Mariners notebook: Nelson Cruz close to return from strained quad

No rest for the not so weary as the Mariners return home from the 11-day road trip and get right back at it with a Monday afternoon game. After winning five straight I don’t think most would complain about the opportunity to go out there again and win another game, but a day off would have helped with some of the injuries.

Nelson Cruz and Franklin Gutierrez once again are not in the lineup. Cruz is further along than Gutierrez, having hit for the last three days and taking agility drills before today’s game on the field. He believes he is very close to returning.

“It’s good,” Cruz said after his on-field work. “I did all the agility, it was good. The first sprint I felt it a little bit but then the other ones it was good. The more that I run the better.”

Cruz most likely will be available to pinch hit Monday and then there is a good chance we could see him DH on Tuesday. He’s anxious to get back out on the field and contribute.

“It’s definitely a shame. You want to be out there. The good thing is we are winning, hopefully we continue that streak,” he said.

Lineup!

Ketel Marte, SS
Kyle Seager, 3B
Mark Trumbo, DH
Robinson Cano, 2B
Seth Smith, LF
Logan Morrison, 1B
Brad Miller, SS
John Hicks, C
Shawn O’Malley, RF

Roenis Elias, LHP

Zunino headed to instructional league

The Rainiers end their season Monday and it will be interesting to see who joins the team afterwards. While the original plan when Mike Zunino was sent down to Tacoma was to bring him back Tuesday, it now looks like he will be sent to instructional league instead to work on a change with his swing.

Zunino is not eligible to play in the Arizona Fall League so the choice of getting his at-bats under supervision of organizational coaches would either be at the big league level or in instructional league. The belief is he can better focus on the swing away from the big leagues and handling big league pitchers, and also that finishing on an positive note at the plate wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

In 9 games with the Rainiers, Zunino is hitting .324/.359/.595/.954. He has hit three home runs and seven strikeouts while having yet to take a walk.

Notes

• Edgar Olmos has been optioned to Tacoma and Danny Farquhar recalled to the big league team. The extra right-handed arm is needed, especially tonight as Tom Wilhelmsen will most likely be down. Carson Smith is available.

• The starting pitcher for Wednesday is still TBA. James Paxton, who was removed from his last rehab start with a broken fingernail, was to be re-evaluated Monday but we have yet to receive an update.

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