PEORIA, Ariz. — Gil Meche got his work in, Bret Boone and Ichiro Suzuki played an inning apiece and nobody got hurt.
The latter was the Seattle Mariners’ primary goal in their first exhibition game Thursday on a windy, wet and raw afternoon.
Suzuki and Boone were back in the clubhouse soon after their first at-bats, designated hitter Edgar Martinez didn’t even play and Meche pitched well in his two innings despite allowing a two-run homer that helped the San Diego Padres win, 3-2.
"We got Boonie and Ichiro out of there fairly quickly," Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. "We weren’t sure how the field was going to be. It was fairly sloppy in the outfield."
Rain that lasted all morning stopped just before game time and held off for the 2 1/2hours it took for both teams to run 39 position players and 17 pitchers into the game. Within minutes of the final pitch, a storm moved through and flooded the field.
"We got a bunch of guys in the game," Melvin said.
And nobody got hurt.
The only ones who could say they came close to peril were a few photographers who positioned themselves several feet behind the plate as Mariners right-hander J.J. Putz took his warmup tosses in the seventh inning.
Putz’s first two sailed past catcher Pat Borders and sent the photographers scattering.
"I don’t know what happened," Putz said. "All I can think was that I was trying to get a little looser, having to rush to get in there."
A few minutes later, Putz himself escaped unscathed.
Putz entered the game in a hurry after Mariners pitcher Rett Johnson walked the bases loaded to start the seventh. After he nearly parted the photographers from their cameras, Putz separated the Padres from their big chance to score.
Mariners third baseman Willie Bloomquist made a diving catch of a line drive for the first out, then Putz got a grounder up the middle that became an inning-ending double play on a backhand catch by shortstop Jose Lopez and a quick turn by second baseman Ramon Santiago.
Putz, who pitched 86 innings with Class AAA Tacoma with a 2.51 earned-run average last year, pitched another scoreless inning and considered his 2004 debut a success. He struggled with a fastball that tailed too much into right-handers, but pitching coach Bryan Price already seems to have straightened that out.
"I think we figured out what the problem was and we can build on it," Putz said.
Solid first outing: Meche allowed three hits, a walk and two runs in his two innings, but left pleased with his first appearance.
"I’m just trying to get my innings, get my pitches and work on my release point," said Meche, who gave up Terrence Long’s two-run homer in the second inning. "I’m just trying to get ready. This is my first year to go out there and work on certain things and not try to blow everybody away or get people out."
Hold those calls: The Mariners have instituted a new rule in their clubhouse that would go over big at a lot of other places: no cell phones allowed.
"It’s gotten to a point where you see guys always on their phones," manager Bob Melvin said. "Some guys take exception to that. It’s a place of business and there are guys before the games who are trying to concentrate. With guys talking on their cell phones all the time, some guys get upset with it, and rightly so.
"You can’t help but check your messages throughout the day. But we’re at work and that’s what it’s all about."
Injury updates: Pitcher Rafael Soriano continues to improve from a strained oblique muscle and is scheduled to throw Sunday for the first time since being hurt.
Melvin said he would like to see Soriano back on the mound with about two weeks left in spring training to ensure his return to the setup role in the bullpen. So far, Soriano is on that schedule.
Pitcher Jeff Heaverlo threw in the bullpen Thursday morning — "I felt outstanding," he said — and is scheduled to pitch one inning in Monday’s game against the Anaheim Angels.
Catcher Wiki Gonzalez, who had a history of nagging injuries while with the Padres, has been out of commission in recent days with a you-name-it list of ailments: shoulder, calf, back and elbow.
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