• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Mariners try to bounce back against Padres

Jul 3, 2011 - 2:43 PM (Sports Network) - The Seattle Mariners try to right a wrong this afternoon when they close out a three-game interleague set against the San Diego Padres at home in Safeco Field.

On Saturday night the Mariners found themselves on the losing end of a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat, their fourth in the last five outings, but it was the manner in which they lost which had to be painful to swallow.

In the fifth inning Cameron Maybin was mistakenly given first base on a three- ball walk and he eventually scored the game's only run on an Alberto Gonzalez single. Maybin was awarded first base after the count went to 3-2.

"I thought I just missed a pitch," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "Nobody reacted to it, nobody did anything and he went to first base. I felt like I was in the wrong, but obviously that wasn't the case. It was just the third ball and that was pointed out to me after the fact."

Unfortunately for the hosts, there doesn't seem to be anything they can do about the mistake by home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi who awarded first base to Maybin.

"You have to do it before the next pitch is thrown," Wedge said of a possible protest. "You have to go out there and do something. That's something that's never happened before. I think that's what makes it so unusual when you're having conversations, watching the game, working the ball game...there was no reaction there from anybody. I just felt like I must have missed one."

Lost in all the confusion was the impressive effort put forth by Seattle starter Doug Fister who went the distance yet suffered his ninth loss of the campaign. Fister allowed six hits and just the one run, while striking out seven in the hard-luck loss.

Over on the other side, San Diego starter Cory Luebke was awarded his second win of the campaign by giving up a mere two hits and also fanning seven over six innings of work. Seattle left-fielder Greg Halman accounted for both hits for his team on the night.

Mat Latos will step up and take the ball for the Padres in the series finale this afternoon. Already 0-1 this season versus Seattle and 1-1 for his career, Latos gained just enough run support on Monday to earn his fifth win of the campaign.

Against the Kansas City Royals at home earlier this week, the right-hander gave up three runs on seven his and a pair of walks, while striking out six over six innings in a 4-3 win. Entering the month of July the Virginia native is still trying to recover from an 0-5 start to begin 2011.

With Erik Bedard on the 15-day disabled list, the Mariners went searching for a starter for today's game and came up with Blake Beavan whom they called up from Triple-A Tacoma.

Beavan, a towering right-hander who stands 6-7, is making his debut at the major league level after producing a 5-3 record with the Rainiers this season. Beavan was actually roughed up in his most recent outing on Tuesday when he was tagged for six runs on 12 hits over four innings against Las Vegas on the road.

Despite the loss last night, Seattle is still just 3 1/2 games out of first place in the American League West and has managed to stay close to the pack despite being the lowest-scoring team in the AL with a total of just 283 runs through 83 games.

Meanwhile, San Diego has scored the fewest runs of any club in the National League with just 286, but in the case of the Padres they are eight games under .500 and 10 games out of first even though they've won eight of their last 10 contests.