EVERETT — Carlos Silva may have taken a no decision in the scorebook. However, in his eyes Tuesday night’s appearance for the Everett AquaSox was a big win.
The Seattle Mariners starting pitcher made his first competitive appearance in nearly four months Tuesday at Everett Memorial Stadium, throwing one inning in Everett’s 9-4 victory over the Vancouver Canadians.
And most importantly, Silva emerged intact.
“I felt really good,” Silva said following his brief rehabilitation start. “That’s the most important thing, how I feel. I haven’t been on the mound the last four months, and the shoulder feels good.”
Silva had been sidelined since the Mariners placed him on the disabled list May 7 with shoulder inflammation. In his six starts before being shut down the right-hander, who signed a four-year $48 million contract with the Mariners prior to the 2008 season, flailed to a 1-3 record with an 8.48 ERA.
Silva was subsequently diagnosed with fraying of both the labrum and rotator cuff in his shoulder. He did not undergo surgery, but spent three months undergoing rehab. He began throwing three weeks ago in preparation for Tuesday’s appearance.
On the surface Silva’s inning looks like a mixed bag. Throwing primarily sinkers, he ended up striking out the side, but also allowed three singles and two runs — with an error thrown in the mix. Never one to light up the radar gun, Silva topped out at 85 mph.
But Silva saw plenty of positives, too. He threw first-pitch strikes to all seven batters he faced, and 19 of his 23 pitches were strikes. All three of the singles he surrendered came on ground balls.
“The only thing I was trying to do today was keep the ball down, try and get my sinker back,” Silva said. “It felt really good. The three hits I gave up were hit on the ground, so it was good.”
Silva is expected to make his next appearance Thursday. Whether that’s for Everett or Class AAA Tacoma is yet to be determined. He hopes to return to the Mariners before the season ends.
“That’s the plan,” Silva said. “I’ve got two more starts, then I’ll be back with the team.”
As for the rest of Tuesday’s game, Blake Trinkler and Ben Billingsley made sure Silva ended up with a no decision rather than a loss. Trinkler slugged a three-run homer to left in the bottom of the second inning to give the Sox (37-34) a 3-2 lead and take Silva off the hook. Then Billingsley blasted a grand slam in the fourth as Everett built 9-2 lead.
“Billingsley’s been swinging the bat real well,” Everett manager John Tamargo said. “The pitch was down and in and he dropped the head on it and hit a grand slam. Trinkler has been swinging the bat much better in BP. He’s starting to come around, staying through the ball a little bit, and he hit the ball hard a couple times.”
The Sox also survived having to scramble a full game from their bullpen as Andres Esquibel, the original scheduled starter, was called up to Tacoma to make an emergency start. Following Silva four Sox relievers combined to cover the last eight innings.
The arrangement almost broke down in the end as, with the score 9-4 in the top of the ninth, Fray Martinez loaded the bases to make it interesting. But Martinez struck out Tyreace House to end it.
Phillip Roy earned the win thanks to three scoreless frames, improving to 2-2.
House had a big game for Vancouver (33-38), going 4-for-6 with three stolen bases. Michael Gilmartin and Myrio Richard added back-to-back homers in the seventh for the Canadians.
Roster moves: Everett underwent a fair amount of roster turnover before Tuesday’s game. The biggest name among the arrivals was shortstop Nick Franklin, who was selected 27th overall in the first round of this year’s amateur draft by Seattle. The 18-year-old Franklin, who spent the previous two weeks with Peoria of the rookie Arizona League, replaces Anthony Phillips, who along with Esquibel was promoted to Tacoma. Esquibel is expected to return to Everett, Phillips is not.
In other moves, catcher Juan Fuentes joined High Desert of the high Class A California League, while second baseman Kevin Mailloux, Seattle’s 45th-round pick in this year’s draft, joined Everett from Peoria.
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