No decision on M’s Weaver

An early phone call Sunday morning put a different perspective on the worst start of Jeff Weaver’s career.

Hours after Weaver gave up six runs and seven hits and got only one out in his fourth start with the Seattle Mariners, Weaver was jolted by a call from pitcher Randy Flores, his St. Louis teammate from last year, informing him about the death of Cardinals reliever Josh Hancock.

Quickly, Weaver’s poor pitching performance didn’t seem to mean so much.

“It kind of puts different things in perspective,” Weaver said Sunday morning. “Give up six runs in a third of an inning, then you see stuff or hear things like this and it makes it a little easier to handle things we think are difficult.”

Whether Weaver (0-4) remains in Seattle’s rotation is an ongoing question that should be answered soon. Weaver has failed to pitch beyond the third inning in three of his four starts, continuing a career trend of struggling in the first month of the season.

But this April is a new low for Weaver, who signed a one-year, $8,325,000 contract to be the Mariners’ No. 5 starter.

Weaver has given up 23 earned runs and 31 hits in 11 1/3 innings for an 18.26 ERA.

Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said no decisions about Weaver have been made yet.

“We want to do what’s best for him and the ballclub, but obviously the ballclub comes first,” Hargrove said.

Rare triple play made

Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki had an unassisted triple play in the seventh inning of the Rockies’ game against Atlanta in Denver.

After Kelly Johnson and Edgar Renteria reached on singles, Tulowitzki caught Chipper Jones’ line drive behind second base. Tulowitzki stepped on the bag to double up Johnson and tagged Renteria for the third out.

It was the 13th unassisted triple play in major league history and first since Rafael Furcal of the Braves did it on Sept. 10, 2003, against the Cardinals.

Clearing the bases

Mets right-hander Orlando Hernandez flew to New York to have a doctor check out pain in his pitching shoulder. Hernandez is scheduled to start tonight at home against the Florida Marlins. … The Oakland Athletics got some relief for their injury-depleted outfield, acquiring Ryan Langerhans in a trade with the Atlanta Braves for a player to be named or cash. Langerhans will join the A’s in Boston on Tuesday.