SEATTLE (AP) Jerry Dipoto thought he was done making deals a day before the non-waiver trade deadline after remodeling the Seattle Mariners
bullpen.The Mariners’ ever-active baseball boss just couldn’t help himself when
an outfield upgrade became available.Seattle acquired outfielder Cameron Maybin
from the Miami Marlins on Tuesday
Jesus Sucre Jersey , giving the Mariners a boost going into the final two months of the regular season. Seattle landed Maybin in exchange for minor league
infielder Bryson Brigman and international bonus pool allotment.Dipoto said he
first had discussions with the Marlins about Maybin about two weeks ago, but it
took the non-waiver trade deadline to get a deal finalized.”He fits into the
theme of what we’re doing and adds better balance to our club. And the
experience of a guy who has been through it as long as Cam has doesn’t hurt,”
Dipoto said.Center field was the one obvious position where Seattle could use an
upgrade. Since moving Dee Gordon to second base, Guillermo Heredia has seen the
majority of the time in center. And while Heredia is outstanding defensively,
his bat hasn’t provided much to Seattle’s lineup. Heredia is hitting .229 with a
.314 on-base percentage and 22 runs scored. Heredia was batting .302 on May 29,
but his average has taken a nosedive. In the past 51 games played, Heredia is
hitting just .184.Maybin has been the opposite offensively. Maybin is batting
.251 with three homers and 20 RBIs in 99 games this season, but he’s batting
.329 with a .912 OPS since June 29. The Mariners are the seventh team for the
12-year veteran, who has a $3.25 million, one-year contract. Maybin also has
postseason experience, playing in the World Series last year with Houston.
Seattle entered the day two games ahead of Oakland for the second wild-card in
the American League and three games behind the Astros in the AL West.Seattle is
hopeful Maybin will be able to join the club Wednesday, and he was the last of
Seattle’s four trades in the days leading up to the deadline. Seattle also
acquired relief pitchers Sam Tuivailala
http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-jonny-venters-jersey , Adam Warren and Zach Duke in a trio of deals.”I think we’ve helped the team a
lot,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. ”Every manager out there wants more
pieces in the bullpen, certainly. As you get going into games in August and
September and workloads start to mount up on pitchers you tend to go to the
bullpen a little earlier and you want guys who have experience or have stuff or
a combination. I think we’ve done some nice things.”The acquisition of Maybin
will likely put to rest any thought of moving Gordon back to center late in the
season following the return of Robinson Cano from his 80-game suspension for
violating baseball’s joint drug agreement. Dipoto said the intent was to leave
Gordon at second base, but that he may see occasional time in the outfield.
Getting Maybin means Cano will be moving around to positions other than second
base once he returns.Brigman is batting .304 this year for Class A Modesto. He
was a third-round pick in 2016 but hasn’t played above Class A.— PITTSBURGH (AP)
— Josh Bell has homered in consecutive games following three days off. He
doesn’t think it’s a coincidence.“I was able to kind of reflect a little bit,”
Bell said. “Take a step back, watch some baseball, get some work done in the
cages and get back to the basics.”The switch-hitting first baseman combined with
Ivan Nova, who got his first victory in a month, to help the Pittsburgh Pirates
beat the Miami Marlins 5-1 Saturday for their fifth consecutive win.In a game
played in a steady drizzle, Bell connected off Brett Graves leading off the
sixth for his 10th home run, down from 26 last year when he finished third in
the NL Rookie of the Year voting. Before his home run Friday, Bell had not
driven in a run since Aug. 11.Manager Clint Hurdle did not play Bell on Tuesday
or Wednesday against Cincinnati
Matt Moore Jersey , and the Pirates were off Thursday.“Just like everybody else, we’ve had a sit down and talked about finishing strong, putting some
staples on this season and building some momentum toward next year,” Hurdle
said.Nova (8-9) gave up three hits in six innings, struck out nine and walked
three. He had lost three straight starts since beating San Francisco on Aug. 9
and had missed his previous turn for an undisclosed reason.“I was doing my
workouts while I was away,” Nova said. “I’m a professional athlete and I was
taking care of my business to make sure I was still ready to pitch.”Nova
improved his career record against the Marlins to 4-0.“He’s handcuffed us pretty
much every time we’ve seen him over the last couple of years,” Miami manager Don
Mattingly said.Pittsburgh at 71-71 reached .500 for the first time since before
play on Aug. 21.“Winning matters every day but, yeah, I think we would all like
to finish the season strong,” Hurdle said.Wei-Yin Chen (6-10) allowed three runs
and five hits in four innings, dropping to 1-7 with a 9.13 ERA in 11 road
starts. He is 5-3 with a 1.77 ERA in 12 home outings.Chen said he did not a good
feel for the ball in the wet conditions.“It’s the command. Maybe it’s the
weather, it’s the rain
http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-alex-avila-jersey , but as a player, that’s what you have to overcome,” Chen said. “That’s not a
reason you can say, ‘because it’s the rain.’ As a player, you have to be able to
pitch in the rain.”Jose Osuna doubled leading off the second and scored on Kevin
Newman’s single. The Pirates took a 3-0 lead in the fourth when Jacob Stallings
had a two-out RBI single and center fielder Lewis Brinson allowed the ball to
bounce past him for an error that let Jose Osuna score from first.Starling Marte
hit an RBI double in the seventh off Elieser Hernandez.Miguel Rojas scored on
Nick Kingham’s wild pitch in the eighth for already eliminated Miami, who
dropped to 56-68.TRAINER’S ROOMMarlins: Mattingly said the team hopes RHP Dan
Straily (strained left oblique) will make his next scheduled start. Straily left
in the fifth inning Friday. … SS JT Riddle (sore left wrist) missed his fifth
straight game but took indoor batting practice.Pirates: RF Gregory Polanco (bone
bruise in left knee) will miss the remainder of the season. He was forced from
Friday’s game in the sixth inning following an awkward slide into second base on
a double.UP NEXTMarlins: RHP Jeff Brigham (0-1, 9.00 ERA) will make his second
start Sunday after giving up three runs in three innings against Toronto in his
major league debut Sept. 2.Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (12-9, 3.15) is 6-2 with
a 0.66 ERA in his last nine starts, allowing just four runs in 54 2/3
innings.
