Mariners and Pirates Split Brief Series

The Mariners remain at .500 after a brief two game series with the Pirates. They will have to deal with a red-hot Baltimore offense in a four-game series starting Thursday night.

The Pirates made a rare visit to Safeco Field and split a brief two-game series with the Mariners, dropping Seattle to 9-18 for the month of June.

The Mariners sent Hisashi Iwakuma to the mound for the first game of the series and received 6 ⅔ innings of two-run ball from the Japanese right-hander who struck out four Pirates’ batters.

The Mariners’ offense got started with a Ketel Marte double play that scored Leonys Martin in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Chris Iannetta added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to make it a 2-0 game, and in the 5th inning, Robinson Cano stayed hot and got an RBI single and was promptly outdone by cleanup man Nelson Cruz who hit an absolute missile into the left field bleachers to extend the lead to 5-0.

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Starling Marte had a RBI triple and David Freese had an RBI single for Pittsburgh. Jonathon Niese started the game on the mound for Pittsburgh and gave up five runs over 4 ⅔ innings.

Edwin Diaz got 4 outs to earn the hold and Steve Cishek earned his 18th save after working a scoreless 9th inning. Seattle won 5-2.

Wade Miley returned from his stint on the 15-day Disabled List to start game two of the series and quickly saw himself on the bench after getting roughed up by the Pirates’ lineup. Miley lasted just 4 innings and gave up five runs, including a David Freese solo shot in the second and a Sean Rodriguez RBI double in the 5th.

Donn Roach pitched the 5th and gave up 3 runs after a bases clearing double by Sean Rodriguez which gave Pittsburgh an 8-0 lead.

Adam Lind got an RBI single in the bottom of the 5th but the Mariners’ lineup had a very hard time against Pirates’ rookie pitcher Jameson Taillon. Taillon threw 6 innings and gave up just the 1 run and 6 strikeouts while not walking anybody.

The Mariners lost 8-1 and split the brief two game series.

Backup catcher Steve Clevenger left the game in the 3rd inning after taking a foul ball to his throwing hand and is expected to miss at least a month with a broken metacarpal.

Jun 29, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Steve Clevenger (32) collects himself after suffering an injury during the third inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /

Nathan Karns was moved to the bullpen and pitched two scoreless innings of relief and he struck out 6 Pittsburgh batters. With Karns in the bullpen for the foreseeable future, Wade LeBlanc will stay in the starting rotation.

Kyle Seager had 2 errors in the field to bring his total to 9 on the season so far and Seattle had 3 errors total.

Other Notes:

To make room for Wade Miley on the roster, Nick Vincent was sent to the 15-day Disabled List with a sore back.

University of Washington alum Braden Bishop, the Mariners’ 9th overall prospect according to MLB.com, was called up from the Clinton Lumberkings to the Bakersfield Blaze, Seattle’s High-A affiliate.

D.J. Peterson, the number six prospect in the Mariners’ organization according to MLB.com, was promoted to AAA Tacoma from AA Jackson after a solid start to the 2016 season.

It’s unclear what the Mariners will do to fill Clevenger’s spot on the roster. They have options in Steven Baron and Mike Zunino, who are both on the 40-man roster, and they also have Rob Brantly, who is in Tacoma right now, and Jesus Sucre who is on a rehab assignment in Tacoma after an offseason leg injury. If the goal for 2016 was to get Zunino some minor league at bats to build his confidence, then they should keep him in Tacoma for the time being unless something happens to Iannetta. Expect to see either Baron or Brantly get recalled to fill the backup catcher spot.

Next: Mariners Win Cardinals Series

Taijuan Walker will return from injury and start against Baltimore on Thursday after missing his last start.

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