Kuo, a 30-year-old who had been a 2010 All-Star with the Los Angeles Dodgers, floundered all spring with the Mariners, compiling a 17.57 earned run average that included five home runs allowed in 6 innings.

Kuo’s release cut the team’s 40-man roster to 39, making room for one of several nonroster invitees likely to make the team – including such candidates as pitchers Erasmo Ramirez and Kevin Millwood and infielder Munenori Kawasaki.

The Mariners must decide Wednesday on the 30 players they plan to take to Jan a day later, and there are now 39 players in camp.

That includes four left-handed relievers: Charlie Furbush, George Sherrill, Cesar Jimenez and Lucas Luetge, a Rule 5 draftee in December from Milwaukee.

GETTIN’ TO KNOW NOESI

The day he arrived in camp – Feb. 11 – pitcher Hector Noesi knew only one Mariners player, catcher Jesus Montero.

That was because they’d both been with the New York Yankees last year.

“I know everybody on the team now,” Noesi said Monday. “I’m very comfortable with these guys; they’re all good people. If I make this team I say, ‘Thank God.’ ”

Noesi figures to make this team as a right-handed starting pitcher who has pitched well, a 25-year-old with 30 big-league pearances on his résumé.

“One of the first guys I wanted to get to know was Miguel Olivo, because he lives in the same area of the Dominican (Republic) that I do,” Noesi said. “He has helped me a lot this spring.”

Does Noesi think he’s earned a spot on the roster?

“No one has told me anything, so I don’t know,” he said. “Whatever hpens, I’m hpy to be in the organization.”

Now that’s international diplomacy.

CAN’T WIN ’EM ALL

On a blustery day in Peoria, the baseball was flying – and while Ichiro Suzuki, Montero and Kyle Seager all homered for the Mariners, it wasn’t nearly enough in Seattle’s 12-7 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Jason Vargas, who’d had such a strong spring coming into this final start was banged around for seven runs in 2/3 of an inning. His next pearance will be March 29 – in the second game of the 2012 season.

Ichiro hit his first home run of the spring, Montero his second and, for the second day in a row, Seager hit his third. Rain stopped Sunday’s game after four-innings.

SHORT HOPS

In an effort to get everyone work, Kevin Millwood will start today’s game against Cincinnati, and Hisashi Iwakuma will relieve him. The final game before departure for Jan is Wednesday – and Felix Hernandez will start that one. … With Sunday’s game shortened by bad weather, relievers Tom Wilhelmsen, George Sherrill and Brandon League pitched in a minor league game Monday to get their work in. League allowed two unearned runs, Sherrill and Wilhelmsen threw shutout innings. … If you’ve got HBO, you might want to watch Bryant Gumbel’s Real Sports tonight. It has a feature on Mariners reliever Steve Delabar. … Dustin Ackley, with six doubles and two triples, shares the Cactus League lead in both categories. … Brendan Ryan, returning after missing three games with a tight quad, had a pair of hits. … Today, League, Erasmo Ramirez and Rule 5 left-hander Lucas Luetge will pitch in a minor league game.

ON T

Seattle visits Cincinnati today for a 1 p.m. game that will be broadcast on 710-AM – delayed until 7 p.m. Probable starting pitchers: Seattle’s Millwood vs. Johnny Cueto.

larry.larue@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners/

PEORIA, Ariz. () Kevin Millwood had a strong outing in his attempt to make the Seattle Mariners’ roster.

The veteran right-hander pitched four scoreless innings in his most effective start of the spring, and Michael Saunders drove in a pair of runs with a double as part of a four-run sixth inning to lead the Mariners over the Kansas City Royals 6-2 Wednesday night.

Millwood, who allowed at least a run in each of his first two outings, wasn’t always sharp against the Royals – he allowed three walks but just one hit while throwing 53 pitches.

”First two innings I was just missing up. I was just drifting toward the plate too early,” Millwood said. ”Fixed that between the second and third. Third and fourth inning, got the ball down good and pitched the way I needed to.”

He had given up three runs in a relief pearance on March 3 and then allowed one run and four hits in three innings last Thursday.

”When things aren’t exactly the way you want them, you’ve got to be able to make pitches at some point,” Millwood added. ”I’m definitely not ecstatic about the outing by any means but I’m hpy that when I needed to, I was able to make a pitch and keep us in the ball game.”

Saunders, who is making a strong push to open the season as the starting center fielder, raised his batting average to .417 and Ichiro Suzuki had two hits.

”He’s had a great spring. He looks like a totally different hitter,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said of Saunders. ”He’s up there ready to hit, he’s stronger, he’s got a little swagger to him, more presence at home plate.”

High-level prospect Vinnie Catricala also knocked in two runs with singles in the fourth and sixth innings as the Mariners improved to 10-3 this spring.

Royals starter Aaron Crow, an All-Star reliever last season, went three innings and allowed two runs on two hits, walking two with two strikeouts.

”First two innings couldn’t have gone any better,” Crow said. ”Fourth inning, can’t get behind a hitter like Ichiro. It’s something I’ll learn from and get better.”

The Mariners led 6-0 before Kansas City scored a pair of unearned runs off Oliver Perez.

Jonathan Broxton struck out two in one inning of work in his spring debut for Kansas City.

The Royals were playing for the first time since learning catcher Salvador Perez will have to undergo surgery sometime this week for a torn meniscus in his right knee and miss perhs a month. Brayan Pena started behind the plate Wednesday.

”It’s terrible for the team. Salvador’s a great catcher and we’re going to feel it, but Pena is more than cable of stepping in,” Crow said. ”I think everybody’s confident in him and I think we’ll be OK.”

NOTES: Mariners SS Brendan Ryan left the game after the top of the fourth inning with tightness in his left quadriceps. Ryan ran hard around second base on a flyout and was slower to get back to first in the bottom of the third. … Seattle LHP Jason Vargas, slated to start the team’s second regular-season game in Jan on March 29, threw in a minor-league intrasquad game. He allowed two runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings, striking out five and walking one. … Former Mariners All-Star OF Mike Cameron will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening night on ril 13 at Safeco Field. Cameron, who spent 17 years in the major leagues before retiring last month, played for the Mariners from 2000-03. … With two catchers down due to injury, the Royals added two – Ryan Eigsti and Ben Theriot – from their minor-league camp for spring games.

Seattle Mariners catcher Adam Moore was already facing an up-hill climb to make the 25-man roster in spring training, especially after missing just about the entire 2011 season due to injury. Any dreams of making the opening day roster this year went out the window on Thursday (March when it was revealed that he broke his right wrist.

The injury took place against the Cincinnati Reds back on Tuesday (March 6), but the team didn’t realize the full severity of what took place until he went through further tests. It turns out that Moore broke the third metacarpal on his upper right hand while blocking a ball in the dirt. That’s just another frustrating injury during his short career that will likely keep him out at least through the end of spring training.

Moore has had a lot of expectations placed on him in the past, especially because the Mariners have had no luck at finding an everyday catcher who can also hit since Dan Wilson retired. With the acquisitions of Jesus Montero from the New York Yankees and John Jaso from the Tampa Bay Rays, it was already going to become a very tough task for Moore to break the team. Now an injury guarantees that Moore will begin the season at Triple-A Tacoma, hoping that his last shot at succeeding at the top level hasn’t gone out the window.

It’s hard not to feel bad for Moore, especially because he has always shown so much promise in the minor leagues and at spring training. He has participated in spring training with the Mariners every year since 2007, including this season, where he had gone 4-for-6 in three games. Now all that work to get back to playing baseball is going to have to wait a bit longer, but hopefully he gets to work with some of the great young pitching that the Mariners will also stash in Tacoma for a little while.

More From YCN:

Mariners At Spring Training

Mariners Sign Carlos Guillen

Casper Wells Ready to Rock

Jamie Moyer Offered Contract

Mariners Payroll Breakdown

References:

Mariners_Pitching_Stats

Mariners_Hitting_Stats

Best_Mariners_Of_All_Time

Seattle_Mariners_Team_Page

*Ryan is a lifelong Seattle Mariners fan who never misses an opportunity to attend a game at Safeco Field. He has been attending games since 1985, and has fond memories of The Kingdome, Edgar Martinez, and the historic 1995 team. Sodo Mojo!

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