The team that boasts “five No. 1 starters” now seems to have five closers, with J.J. Putz on the disabled list. Manager John McLaren has declared a closer-by-committee plan, and MIguel Batista became Closer No. 1 Wednesday.
He finished off the Rangers in the ninth after Sean Green walked the leadoff hitter. It’s a familiar role for Batista, who saved 31 games for the Blue Jays in 2005. Hopefully, it won’t be too familiar with the Mariners. Batista, now 37, has a bad back after his ill-advised pitch-through-pain episode during his first spring training outing. The Mariners need him every fifth day, even if it’s in the fluid No. 5 spot in the rotation.
Other observations from tonight’s victory:
Sure Erik Bedard made us all nervous with a high pitch count that limited him to five innings in the opener. But he gave up only a run in that outing, and it set a tone for the two starters who’ve followed. Felix Hernandez didn’t give up an earned run in his seven innings Tuesday, and Carlos Silva allowed only one in his seven innings tonight. That makes two earned runs in 19 innings by the starters. Now it’s Jarrod Washburn’s turn Friday in Baltimore, followed by Batista on Saturday.
In a here-we-go-again moment, Jose Lopez quickly found himself in a two-strike hole with two outs and two runners on base in the fifth inning. But he showed some patience as Jason Jennings threw three straight balls, then pounced on a high fastball and drove it for a three-run homer.
Brad Wilkerson isn’t the fastest guy in the world, as evidenced by his timed-by-calendar steal of second base in the sixth inning when Jose Vidro swung through a hit-and-run pitch. Wilkerson also displayed the vertical leap of, well, me, when he got maybe six inches of air under his feet as he jumped for Ben Broussard’s home run, which hit the top of the wall in right-center and bounced over.
The Mariners finished with more walks (two) than strikeouts (one) for the second time in three games and they now have 14 walks this season. They didn’t draw their 14th walk until the eighth game last year. Patience does have its virtue.
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