Benoit threw again Wednesday and reported no lingering soreness in his back and shoulder, an ailment that surfaced in spring training and returned after his one-inning appearance April 8 against Oakland.
“Everything seems OK,” he said. “I’m hoping I’ll be ready by Friday.”
Joel Peralta replaced Benoit when the Mariners carried one-run leads into the eighth inning last Sunday against Oakland and again Wednesday against Texas. Each time, Peralta surrendered a leadoff homer.
“Breaking ball in the middle of the plate (on Wednesday),” Servais said, “and (Delino) DeShields put a good swing on it. We’re going to need Peralta, and we’ll continue to give him the ball.
“But when you come into tie games or with a one-run lead late, you’ve got to be very fine. Mistakes in this league will get you.”
Halting the skid
The Mariners ended their five-game home skid, which was the longest in franchise history at the start of a season. Overall, the five-game home losing streak tied for the 27th-longest in the franchise’s 40 years.
Yep … the Mariners have lost six or more straight home games on 26 occasions. The most recent was a seven-game skid last season from May 30 to June 5 against Cleveland, the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay.
The franchise record is 11 straight home losses from Aug. 16-Sept. 10, 1989 against the Texas, Kansas City, the New York Yankees and Milwaukee.
Fan cost index
The cost of attending a game at Safeco Field is lower than the major-league average — and lower than last season — according to Team Marketing Report in its annual Fan Cost Index survey.
TMR calculates its index by adding the cost of four adult average-price tickets, two small draft beers, four small soft drinks, four regular-sized hot dogs, parking for one car and two of the least-expensive, adult size-adjustable caps.
That cost at Safeco Field is $209, which ranks 17th among the 30 clubs and represents a 1.4-percent decline from last season. The average cost index for all clubs is $219.53.
Fenway Park in Boston has the most-expensive index at $360.66, followed by Yankee Stadium in New York at $337.20 and Wrigley Field in Chicago at $312.32. The least expensive is Arizona at $132.10.
Looking back
It was 31 years ago Thursday — April 14, 1985 — that Phil Bradley capped a five-run seventh inning with a bases-loaded triple in helping the Mariners to a 5-1 victory over Minnesota at the Kingdome.
The victory boosted the Mariners to 6-0 for their longest winning streak to open a season. All six victories came at the Kingdome.
The streak ended the following day in a 7-4 loss at Oakland, which sent the Mariners into a 1-12 tailspin. They finished the season at 74-88.
Short hops
Dae-Ho Lee is the third player (and first rookie) in franchise history to hit a walk-off homer as a pinch-hitter. The others were Ken Phelps on Sept. 3, 1986 vs. Detroit at the Kingdome, and Kendrys Morales on June 23, 2013 vs. Oakland at Safeco Field. … The Mariners are 15-5 in Taijuan Walker’s last 20 starts. … Several players are chasing round numbers for career achievements as the Mariners head out for a nine-game trip: Robinson Cano needs 10 RBI to reach 1,000; Seth Smith needs two homers to reach 100; and Kyle Seager needs three homers to reach 100; the Mariners averaged 26,040 in attendance for their six-game homestand.
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