Reed’s wrist not broken after all

Further tests this week showed Seattle Mariners starting center fielder Jeremy Reed does not have a fractured right wrist, as the team originally thought. He has a sprain.

That means Reed will likely be back in Seattle’s lineup far sooner than the team’s original estimate – perhaps by next week.

“It will take time and work to get him back in the lineup,” Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. “We are relieved that an original timetable dropped from four-to-six weeks with a broken bone to about three-to-five days.”

Reed rejoined the team on Tuesday after a doctor’s visit in Seattle the day before. He had a CT scan taken and then an MRI, reading dye that had been injected into his right wrist. Doctors reading those results discovered no current break. The fracture on the small scaphoid bone that was initially diagnosed through X-rays after he crashed into an outfield wall last Thursday is apparently from his childhood.

Reed said he was “relieved, and excited. It’s still tender and sore, but I’m certainly happy it’s not broken.”

He resumed throwing, running and every baseball activity except swinging a bat. He is not wearing a brace on the wrist. Team trainer Rick Griffin said the second-year starter will likely be re-evaluated on Saturday. The Mariners will then decide whether Reed will begin the season on the 15-day disabled list or, perhaps, in the starting lineup for next week’s first games.

M’s drop close one

Michael Barrett hit a home run leading off the ninth inning to rally the Chicago Cubs to a 4-3 win over the Mariners at Peoria, Ariz.

Barrett, who went 3 for 4, drove a 3-2 pitch off Stephen Kahn into the lawn seating area beyond left-center field.

Cubs center fielder Angel Pagan’s three-run home run in the eighth inning tied the game at 3. That and 38-year-old veteran Marquis Grissom’s decision to retire improved rookie Pagan’s chances to make the opening-day roster.

Before Pagan’s home run, the Cubs managed only four singles over the first seven innings against five Seattle pitchers – including regular reliever Rafael Soriano and bullpen hopeful Jake Woods.

Chicago’s Glendon Rusch, who will start at Cincinnati April 5, allowed two earned runs and eight hits in his five innings. Yuniesky Betancourt hit a solo home run in the third inning off Rusch to give Seattle a 2-0 lead.