The cold reality of this game stood in the Mariners’ clubhouse this morning packing his bags for a flight home to Denver, then an uncertain future.
The Mariners designated pitcher Denny Stark — the best feel-good story on the team after he’d made it back from two major elbow surgeries — for assignment after selecting Jamie Burke from the Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers. The Mariners are in dire straits with their catching because Rob Johnson remains so banged up he won’t be available until Tuesday (if then) and backup Guillermo Quiroz frightened everyone with a critical passed ball in the ninth inning of Saturday’s 2-1 victory.
Through no fault of his own, Stark is gone. That’s the way this business works. The Mariners couldn’t afford another day of catching peril and Stark was expendable simply because he was a long reliever who wasn’t being used much (11 innings in nine games).
Stark’s 6.55 ERA was the product of a horrendous outing against the Rangers on May 5, when he gave up six earned runs in one inning. Take away that outing, and he’d have a 1.80 ERA.
In otther notes of interest:
—Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt remains benched (Ronny Cedeno will start a third straight game). The Mariners want to see a greater commitment to off-field work from Betancourt and it’s obvious they’re not getting it.
—Pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith, who Wakamatsu told us Saturday wouldn’t make the planned start Thursday at Baltimore, is back with the Tacoma Rainiers for an indefinite period. He had a horrible outing Friday at Tacoma and, while Rowland-Smith pleaded with the Mariners that he was ready to come back, they weren’t convinced. His velocity and command told a different story and Wakamatsu said this morning that there’s no timetable for bringing him back. No announcement yet on who’ll start Thursday, although the team is leaning toward Garrett Olson.
—Closer David Aardsma isn’t available today as Wakamatsu wants to make sure he doesn’t wear out his right-hander. Aardsma has struggled through his past two outings and, going into Sunday, was tied with Tampa Bay’s Jay Howell for the league lead with 28 appearances.
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