Painful win for Seattle
Betancourt latest to fall victim to M’s injury bug
SEATTLE – The Mariners added another to their pile of one-run victories Wednesday night but also to their growing list of injured players.
On the day third baseman Adrian Beltre said he will try to play through bone spurs in his shoulder that will require surgery, the Mariners lost shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt to a hamstring injury.
It happened in the eighth inning of the Mariners’ 4-3 victory – provided this time by Franklin Gutierrez’s home run earlier in the inning.
Betancourt was sprinting to first base after hitting a ground ball to third, but he pulled up before he reached the bag and then crumpled to the grass down the right-field line, holding his right leg.
Manager Don Wakamatsu said Betancourt probably will wind up on the disabled list.
“He’s going to get an MRI, but it looks like he’s going to miss some time,” Wakamatsu said. “It’s low, down toward the knee. He did it on the first step out of the box.”
With second baseman Jose Lopez expected back in the lineup today after nearly a week on bereavement leave, the Mariners won’t need to call anyone up to replace Betancourt. Ronny Cedeno, who played second and made an over-the-shoulder catch of a bloop to shallow right field, probably will get most of the playing time at shortstop.
Betancourt’s injury came five days after the Mariners lost outfielder Endy Chavez for the season to knee injury in a collision Friday with Betancourt. Beltre, Russell Branyan (forearm), Ken Griffey Jr. (knee) and Chris Woodward (groin) also missed games during the homestand because of injuries.
The injury was the only downer on a night when Brandon Morrow made more progress in his transition into a starting pitcher and the Mariners’ offense used home runs to win.
Long before Gutierrez’s winner, Branyan hit a three-run home run in the second inning, a towering drive over the center field fence that was his 18th homer this season.
“Russell continues to do what we knew he could do,” Wakamatsu said.
Morrow is headed in that direction.
In the process of building his pitch count to 87, Morrow made it through five innings before handing a 3-3 tie to the bullpen.
“We saw him command his off-speed pitch better and I saw some good breaking balls late,” Wakamatsu said.
Mariners 4, Padres 3
| San Diego | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| Gwynn cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .333 |
| Eckstein 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .270 |
| Hairston lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .321 |
| Ad.Gonzalez 1b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .275 |
| Kouzmanoff 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .241 |
| Headley dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .230 |
| Venable rf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .133 |
| Alfonzo c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| E.Cabrera ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Totals | 31 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Seattle | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| I.Suzuki rf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .361 |
| Branyan 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .302 |
| Beltre 3b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .258 |
| Griffey Jr. dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .222 |
| F.Gutierrez cf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .260 |
| Balentien lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .236 |
| Y.Betancourt ss | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| Woodward pr-2b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .364 |
| Ro.Johnson c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .188 |
| Cedeno 2b-ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .128 |
| Totals | 32 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| San Diego | 020 | 010 | 000—3 | 7 | 0 |
| Seattle | 030 | 000 | 01x—4 | 11 | 0 |
LOB—San Diego 4, Seattle 7. 2B—Beltre (18), Y.Betancourt (10). HR—Kouzmanoff (10), off Morrow; Branyan (18), off Geer; F.Gutierrez (7), off Mujica. RBIs—Gwynn (5), Kouzmanoff 2 (40), Branyan 3 (36), F.Gutierrez (25). RLISP—San Diego 1 (Hairston); Seattle 4 (Balentien 2, Griffey Jr., Ro.Johnson). RMU—Branyan. GIDP—Kouzmanoff, Ro.Johnson. DP—San Diego 1 (E.Cabrera, Ad.Gonzalez); Seattle 2 (Morrow), (Y.Betancourt, Cedeno, Branyan).
| San Diego | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Geer | 6 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5.86 |
| M.Adams | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.18 |
| Mujica L, 2-3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.95 |
| Seattle | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Morrow | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5.64 |
| Jakubauskas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.22 |
| White W, 2-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.78 |
| Aardsma S, 15-16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.57 |
T—2:44. A—22,988 (47,878).