SEATTLE MARINERS

Eric Wedge cools off a little but team still on notice

Jul 1, 2012, 11:43 PM | Updated: Jul 2, 2012, 9:44 am

By Shannon Drayer

I think the roller coaster did three loops during the four-game series with Boston.

Two walk-off wins against the Red Sox and two losses. Two very well-pitched games, one brilliantly pitched game and one bad start from Hector Noesi. Offense only when needed or no offense at all were the selections for the series. One very unhappy manager. For more on that read my post below.

Saturday night the team won the game in dramatic fashion just hours after the team meeting, where Eric Wedge let it be known that there would be changes if he didn’t see what he expected to see from them at this point of the season. We met with a very calm Wedge before Sunday’s game and after he answered about 10 minutes of questions about how various players were doing with illness, injury or general progress, I asked how he was doing after Saturday. While admitting that it was a tough day for him because of the conversations he had to have, he was still in tough mode even though they won the ballgame that night.

“I said things yesterday that aren’t easy to say but needed to be said and they damn sure better have heard it because I am not the kind of person to say something and not follow up on it,” he said.

Well, no doubt Sunday’s game had him thinking as the team once again was unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

“When you make the starting pitcher throw 100 pitches in four innings and a third, you have to do a hell of a lot more than that,” he said. “This is a game we should have been in a better position to win in the end.”

Saturday’s feel-good win could only go so far. Right up until about 1:10 Sunday.

News and notes: A little bit of good news – Felix Hernandez is an All Star again. Carl Willis gave him the news Sunday morning. His reaction? “Carl gave me the call at 9 in the morning,” said Felix, who is almost always the last to arrive to the clubhouse on Sunday mornings. “I thought, ‘What’s going on now?’ I picked it up and, ‘Hello, you made the All-Star team.’ I said, ‘Thank you, I will see you in two hours.’ Then I went back to sleep.”

Unlike last year, Felix, who is scheduled to pitch Sunday before the break, most likely will be allowed to pitch an inning in the game.

Someone who had a rougher morning was Erasmo Ramirez. He waited to get a diagnosis on his elbow. He has a mild flexor strain. Wedge said it did not appear to be serious and that it was “about our best-case scenario.” Ramirez was placed on the 15-day disabled list and reliever Josh Kinney was called up from Tacoma. To make room for Kinney on the 40-man roster, Adam Moore was designated for assignment. I would still like to see him get a shot when healthy. We will see if he gets picked up by another organization.

Michael Saunders missed a third straight game with the flu and, according to Wedge, was feeling worse Sunday than Saturday. I saw him in the clubhouse after the game and he did not look good.

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