Vargas, League struggle in another rough day for Mariners pitching

It was another tough day for some front-line pitchers in the Mariners’ 8-5 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Jason Vargas wobbled through five innings – but needed only 67 pitches to get that far compared with 80 in four innings for Felix Hernandez last night – and allowed seven hits and four runs (three of them earned).

Like Felix said last night, all Vargas needs is a good outing between now and his first start April 2 at Oakland and he’ll be OK. And if he doesn’t have a good outing he’ll still be OK, as Felix put it. At least, that’s what the comforts of spring training bring at this point.

The Mariners would like to have seen Vargas push his pitch count a littler further, but the Diamondbacks’ three-run fifth inning was enough stress on him to call it a day.

“More important, in the fifth inning he had to work a little bit,” Wedge said. “You like to see that at this point in time in camp.”

More troubling is what happened at the end of the game. Brandon League, who looks to assume the closer role until David Aardsma comes back from hip surgery, faltered mightily in a made-for-prime-time save opportunity.

The Mariners led 5-4 when League took the mound in the top of the ninth, but when he left it the Diamondbacks had scored four times. An error by Josh Wilson hurt, but so did three walks and a wild pitch by League.

Experienced players like League get some leeway in Wedge’s mind.

“He’s still working his way into it,” Wedge said. “He’s done a pretty good job at the back end for quite a few years now. We have some time here. He was a little bit erratic today and made it difficult for himself, but he got his pitch count up to 25-plus (it was 27). We’ve just got to keep getting him out there.”

Fair enough. Although the really troubling sign was League’s inability to throw strikes. He has been relatively clean in that respect, having walked only two in five innings going into today.

But today was a true save situation. And say what you will about the lack of pressure in spring training games, Wedge has placed some emphasis on guys who have (or have not) sucked it up and performed in key situations down here.

Didn’t happen today for League. He’ll get more chances the rest of spring training, and we’ll see how those turn out.

A few notes:

• Aardsma has been throwing from 90 feet off flat ground, two days on and one off (today was an off day) and he said his legs and right arm all feel strong. In fact, Aardsma said his arm feels stronger than ever. That a good sign, although the key is how Aardsma’s arm and surgically repaired left hip feel after he starts throwing off a mound. At this point, there’s no firm timetable on when he’ll do that.

• Garrett Olson understands the business of baseball and said he respects the Mariners’ decision to place him on waivers. But this morning, not long after the Pirates claimed him, Olson said it surprised him that it happened now.

“Spring training. It’s early. It’s not even the season yet,” he said. “We’re all getting into our groove.”

Problems was, the Mariners weren’t confident the 27-year-old left-hander would find that groove. And, with newly acquired Aaron Laffey as a left-handed option in the bullpen and facing the strong possibility that at least three non-roster players will make the team, moving Olson was a way to clear space.

“Roster spots for us are a premium,” Wedge said. “We just didn’t feel like he was going to break camp for us. More strike-throwing issues than anything else.”

Olson’s take?

“I felt personally that, hey, I haven’t shown what I can do. In no way am I going to put that on a handful of innings,” he said. “I know there’s still two weeks left. I feel great and I’m getting better each time out there. It’s no way an excuse, but by opening day I’ll be ready to go.”

• Ken Griffey Jr. spent 45 minutes this morning talking to minor league outfielders. “They were wide-eyed. They were in awe, especially the younger ones,” said Roger Hansen, the Mariners’ catching coordinator.

• Wedge said Jack Wilson, scratched from Thursday night’s game because of a personal issue, would start at shortstop Saturday with Brendan Ryan playing second base.