Blackley, Sherrill may pitch in pinch

The Mariners played again Tuesday with three catchers on their roster and may not make a move until their next series begins at St. Louis on Friday.

Manager Bob Melvin said the M’s probably will call up a pitcher from Triple-A Tacoma. The question is, which pitcher?

The two best at Tacoma are left-handed starter Travis Blackley and left-handed reliever George Sherrill. Blackley is 7-2 with a 2.63 earned-run average and would take one of the two rotation spots occupied by rookies Clint Nageotte and Matt Thornton. Sherrill, who had 10 saves and a 2.47 ERA entering Tuesday, is best suited for short duty in relief, a spot where the Mariners wouldn’t need additional help because they have lefty specialist Mike Myers.

Melvin said with two rookies in the rotation, the club must be careful that there’s sufficient long-relief help in the bullpen.

Not only would that hurt Sherrill’s chances, but he’s also not on the 40-man roster. That’s not the hurdle it normally would be because that roster currently stands at 39.

Catcher Pat Borders is expected to be sent to Tacoma when a pitcher is called up.

Seattle sorely misses Soriano

If the Mariners didn’t already know what they’ve been missing with the loss of right-hander Rafael Soriano, they were reminded of it by the Texas Rangers on Monday.

The Rangers threw one hard-throwing right-handed reliever after another at the M’s and closed out an 8-5 victory. Among them was Frank Francisco, who blew away Jolbert Cabrera, Edgar Martinez and Bret Boone with three strikeouts in the eighth inning.

“It’s nice to have a guy who misses bats or gets you to start your swing early,” Melvin said.

Soriano was expected to be that guy for the Mariners before a sprained right elbow put him on the disabled list May 12.

“He had developed his slider and changeup last year,” Melvin said. “A hitter has to start his bat early for that 96 mph fastball and when it’s not there, it can make you look pretty silly. You saw the effect of that last night.”

Soriano played catch in the outfield Tuesday afternoon, the third time he has thrown since going on the DL. He will play catch again today, take a day off, then throw two more days before the Mariners decide what happens next.

“There’s no timetable (on a return) until he gets on the mound and throws in the bullpen,” Melvin said.

Ibanez won’t rush back

Left fielder Raul Ibanez took batting practice for the second consecutive day and performed well in his recovery from a strained right hamstring.

That hasn’t changed Melvin’s plan to wait until the last series before the All-Star break _ July 9-11 at Chicago _ before activating Ibanez.

“For me still, the earliest is Chicago,” Melvin said. “If there’s any doubt in our mind at all, there’s no reason to try to push him into those games.”

Before Ibanez rejoins the Mariners, he would play some minor league rehab games, although it’s too early to say where those would be. The Everett AquaSox are at home against Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday. The Tacoma Rainiers are at Salt Lake City starting Monday.

“The temptation to get him back is great,” Melvin said. “He’s my No. 4 hitter and a guy who was hitting the ball out of the ballpark for us, and we haven’t seen a whole lot of that since. Temptation is one thing, but you have to realize you must be careful because you don’t want it to happen again.”