M’s have plenty of competition in bullpen

PEORIA, Ariz. – It’s early yet – the Mariners still have three weeks before they break camp – but competition is beginning to crystallize for duty as the bullpen’s second left-hander. Tyler Olson and David Rollins, once viewed as the two longest shots in the battle, have been lights out. Particularly Olson, who has retired all 15 batters faced in his five innings while striking out eight. Veteran Rafael Perez has three straight clean outings since a shaky spring debut, but Lucas Luetge and Joe Saunders each likely need to put on a push to claim the spot. “In about a week, you really start to find out about guys,” manager Lloyd McClendon said. “(They’ll pitch) back-to-back (games). They see more veteran hitters throughout the camp. “Right now, it’s kind of hard to judge because guys are out after three or four innings.” Even so, McClendon sought to provide Olson and Rollins, who are each trying to make the jump from Double-A, with legitimate tests by calling on them early in games – before opponents pull their regulars. Rollins hasn’t quite matched Olson, but he has four scoreless one-inning outings while permitting just two hits and no walks and recording four strikeouts. “They’ve faced pretty good hitters,” McClendon conceded. “With both of those kids, I’ve tried to throw them into the fire as much as I can. And they continue to impress.” Only Luetge and Rollins are on the 40-man roster. The Mariners would have to make a corresponding space-clearing move to retain Olson, Perez or Saunders. Mariners 10, Brewers 5 It was another sloppy finish Friday for the Mariners but, this time, they had a sufficient cushion in coasting past Milwaukee. Chris Taylor had a triple and two singles in leading a 14-hit attack. The Mariners blew a two-run lead Thursday in the ninth to Oakland, and saw a 1-1 tie turn into a 4-1 loss Wednesday when Colorado scored three runs in the ninth. This time, they build leads of 7-0 and 10-1 before the Brewers scored two runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth. Mariners starter J.A. Happ yielded just one hit, a disputed single, in three shutout innings after giving up two runs in two innings in his previous start against the Reds. “I felt little better than last time, for sure,” Happ said. “I felt a little more sharp. Yeah, I was pleased with that.”