Miley Comes Off Disabled List

The Seattle Mariners lost first game with Wade Miley pitching after he just came off the disabled list. Like most of his outings Miley struggled early and gave up a couple runs in the second and three more in his final inning the fourth.

 He was replaced by Donn Roach who pitched just the fifth inning but gave up three innings. On the positive side if there is one they neither gave up a home run. Nathan Karns who made his first bullpen outing gave up only one hit in two innings and not a single run. For right now it could be the move the Mariners will needed in the bullpen especially with Nick Vincent going on the disabled list. Hard to know right now how long Roach will be on the pitching staff or be returned to Tacoma for another call up. I am sure we will know soon.

Speaking of the disabled list backup catcher Steve Clevenger was injured in the third inning with a possible broken finger. A specialist will see him on Thursday so the Mariners will be bringing up someone to replace him. Manager Servais mentioned Mike Zunino’s name however I hope that it will be left handed hitting catcher Rob Brantly who was in spring training for the Mariners until being sent down. The only thing is he is not on the 40 man roster. Depending on how much use the Mariners plan to use the backup catcher they could go with Steve Baron who is on the 40 man roster and is playing double A. We should know the move in a few hours.

The Mariners now take on the Baltimore Orioles in a four game series before going on a road trip on July 4 starting with the Houston Astros before the All-Star break. The Orioles have been on a pretty good winning streak coming into Seattle so this could be a tough time the rest of this week. Of course, they have former Mariner who played for part of last year for them Mark Trumbo who likely DH along with some play in right field or first base. He is having an outstanding year having hit nineteen home runs so far.

TaiJuan Walker will be taking the mound Thursday followed by Wade LeBlanc. On Saturday and Sunday we will likely see the beginning of the rotation again with Paxton and Iwakuma. Miley will make his next start in Houston. I think we may only see Walker for five innings depending how he does since he has missed a couple of outings. I would not be surprised if we see Mike Montgomery come in first from the bullpen. Roach and Karns are two we probably won’t see pitch Thursday since they did on Wednesday. The rest of the bullpen should be ready to go.

I like the starting lineup since Aoki was sent down to Tacoma though another outfielder would be nice. I expect no change until after the All-Star break. We may see Felix return right after the break depending if he is able to go on a rehab assignment during the break. In the meantime go M’s.