Mariners make roster moves
Published 1:30 am Thursday, August 11, 2016
SEATTLE — Even before Tuesday’s 15-inning marathon, manager Scott Servais acknowledged it was a matter of time before the Mariners returned to a seven-man bullpen.
Servais also strongly hinted the odd-man out was likely to be outfielder Guillermo Heredia — despite Heredia’s plus skills in several areas.
“I love what Heredia has brought to our team,” Servais said.
“The flexibility to play defense late and to start against left-handed pitching. I don’t know how long we’ll be able to carry that. It’s a luxury item.
“Eventually, you do need to have the depth on your bullpen. As long as our starters keep going deep, we’re OK. But, eventually, we probably will need to go back to 12 pitchers.”
Eventually arrived Wednesday, one day after the Mariners burned through their entire bullpen before pulling out a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
The Mariners optioned Heredia to Triple-A Tacoma in order to select the contract of right-hander Jarrett Grube from the Rainiers. Grube was scratched earlier Wednesday from a scheduled start against Sacramento (Giants).
To clear space for Grube, 34, on the 40-man roster, the Mariners designated utility infielder Luis Sardinas for assignment.
Heredia, 25, was 7-for-25 (.280 with a .379 on-base percentage) in 12 games following his July 29 recall from Tacoma. He batted a combined .309 with a .399 OBP in 84 games at Tacoma and Double-A Jackson prior to his recall.
The team signed Heredia, a Cuban defector, on March 1.
Grube was 1-2 with a 3.97 ERA in 10 games, including eight starts, at Tacoma.
He signed a minor-league deal June 9 with the Mariners, one day after being released by Cleveland after going 0-3 with a 4.43 ERA at Triple-A Columbus.
Sardinas, 23, became expendable after the Mariners acquired utilityman Mike Freeman in an Aug. 1 waiver claim from Arizona. Sardinas batted .181 in 32 big-league games and .252 in 43 games at Tacoma.
Grube’s only big-league experience came in 2014 when he made one relief appearance for the Los Angeles Angels. He allowed one run in two-thirds of an inning.
Grube is 71-58 in 13 minor-league seasons with a 4.36 ERA in 371 games, including 156 starts.
20-70 club
The Mariners are the only American League club to have three players with at least 20 home runs and 70 RBIs: Robinson Cano (24 homers, 70 RBIs), Nelson Cruz (27 and 71) and Kyle Seager (21 and 72).
Colorado is the only National League club with such a trio: Nolan Arenado (30 and 91), Carlos Gonzalez (23 and 76) and Trevor Story (27 and 72).
Minor details
Lo-A Clinton’s magical turnaround season continued Tuesday when four pitchers combined on a no-hitter in a 2-0 victory over Beloit (Athletics). That came one night after LumberKings’ pitchers struck out 17 Beloit players in a 7-2 victory.
“”It was pretty crazy,” Matt Walker told MiLB.com after completing the gem by pitching the ninth inning for his eighth save. “That was the most pressure I’ve felt in a long time.
“I tried not to look at the scoreboard, but it was pretty tough. Everybody just came in and did their job, and I felt a little bit of pressure trying to finish the job for those guys.”
Pedro Vasquez and Joey Strain each pitched three innings before Lukas Schiraldi worked the seventh and eighth innings. Strain got the victory.
Clinton improved to 70-45, which leads all clubs in the Western Division of the Midwest League. The LumberKings finished 46-93 in 2015.
Looking back
It was 22 years ago today — Aug. 11, 1994 — that the Mariners did something unprecedented since 1903: They won the final game of the year without winning the World Series.
Randy Johnson capped an 8-1 victory at Oakland by striking out Eric Young.
It was the final game of the day and the final game of the season. The players went out on strike the next day in a labor dispute that canceled the rest of the season.
Short hops
How rare was Tuesday’s 6-5 victory over Detroit in 15 innings? According to Stats, Inc., it marked the first time in the Mariners’ 40-year history that they rallied to win after trailing after seven innings and in extra innings in a game lasting more than 12 innings…Tuesday’s game also marked only the 20th time in franchise history that the bullpen worked 10 or more innings.
On tap
The Mariners have an open date today — their only open date between July 28 and Sept. 1 — before opening a six-game trip Friday with the first of three weekend games at Oakland.
Rookie left-hander Ariel Miranda (1-0 with a 6.00 ERA) will start Friday against Athletics rookie lefty Sean Manaea (3-7, 4.58). But Miranda’s status is uncertain after throwing 17 pitches in Tuesday’s 15-inning victory.
Friday’s game starts at 7:05 p.m. and can be seen on Root Sports Northwest.
