M’S SPRING TRAINING

A daily look at the Mariners in spring training:

Mariners vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, 12:05 p.m. (PST)

Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)

Pitchers: Left-hander Jamie Moyer will pitch the first two innings for the Mariners, followed by Ron Villone, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Eddie Guardado and Clint Nageotte. Right-hander John Patterson will start for the Diamondbacks.

Raul Ibanez went 2-for-2 and scored a run in the Mariners’ 3-2 loss to the San Diego Padres. Quinton McCracken and Scott Spiezio each drove in a run for the Mariners. Terrence Long hit a two-run home run off Mariners starting pitcher Gil Meche in the second inning and Brian Buchanan hit a solo homer off Julio Mateo in the fifth.

Mariners right-hander J.J. Putz pitched two scoreless innings of relief after entering the game with nobody out and the bases loaded when Rett Johnson walked the first three hitters in the seventh.

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“He gave me the ball and said, ‘It doesn’t get any easier than this.’”

J.J. Putz on manager Bob Melvin’s words to him as Putz prepared to pitch with the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh inning. Putz escaped the jam by getting a line out and a double-play grounder.

What do ballplayers do when it’s raining outside?

The Mariners, all dressed for a workout that didn’t happen Thursday morning, stayed in the clubhouse and passed the time in a variety of ways.

Several of them gathered in clusters and played cards around tables and stools.

At his locker, Raul Ibanez twirled a device called a “Crown Hammer,” a baseball bat with the head of a sledgehammer attached to the end of the barrel. “It’s something a guy from Miami gave me,” he said.

Greg Dobbs and Willie Bloomquist weighed bats on a small portable scale.

Dave Hansen, an accomplished guitarist, played for lockermate Scott Spiezio, who is the lead singer in his own heavy-metal band.

“He’s good,” Spiezio said. “I was throwing all sorts of stuff at him. Metallica, Lynard Skynard, he could do it.”

Kirby Arnold, Herald writer