Mariners notebook: Pitching answers coming soon

OAKLAND – Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon confirmed Friday afternoon that Mike Montgomery will start Sunday as scheduled.

With Hisashi Iwakuma close to a return and both pitchers throwing bullpens Thursday – Montgomery in Oakland and Iwakuma in Seattle – there was the chance that the Mariners could start Kuma in the finale against the A’s. The Mariners will stay in rotation through the weekend, though, but after that?

“After the game I should have an answer for you,” said McClendon.

So we will wait until then. I would imagine McClendon would like to get Kuma two starts before the All-Star break. If that’s the case then he is pitching Monday or Tuesday. If he goes Monday that would give Taijuan Walker an off day, which would make sense because he was flip-flopped with Roenis Elias earlier this week and missed the extra day of rest.

The Iwakuma move will not be the only move we hear of in the next 24 hours as the Mariners must add Rule 5 pick David Rollins to the roster or offer him back to the Astros. By all numbers and reports Rollins has pitched well in Tacoma and I would be shocked if he wasn’t with the team on Saturday.

Lineup!

Logan Morrison, 1B
Austin Jackson, CF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nelson Cruz, DH
Kyle Seager, 3B
Seth Smith, LF
Mark Trumbo, RF
Brad Miller, SS
Mike Zunino, C

J.A. Happ, LHP

Notes

• Sonny Gray, who was scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Mariners, will not make that start. Gray was hospitalized early this week for two days with a severe case of gastritis. According to A’s manager Bob Melvin, he is “92 percent sure” right-hander Chris Bassitt will start in Gray’s place Sunday.

• Mark Trumbo is in the lineup against the righty Jesse Chavez tonight. Though Trumbo is struggling, it isn’t a huge surprise he’s playing as he was not acquired to be a platoon player. That is exactly why he and not Dustin Ackley is in the lineup tonight, according to McClendon.

“We need to get Trumbo going. We got to get him some consistent at-bats. He’s a big part of what we are trying to accomplish and this guy’s got a tremendous track record,” he said. “We’ve got to get him going, he’s important to us. That’s not to say Ackley’s not, but you look at his numbers, this guy can put up big numbers in a hurry and we got to get him going.”

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