Pregame news and notes, 6/5

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The Mariners’ ten-game homestand is off to a successful start, as they have dominated the White Sox with great pitching and Raul Ibanez the past two days. This afternoon at 12:40 PT, they have a chance to clinch a sweep with Hisashi Iwakuma on the mound. Before today’s game starts, here are some news and notes from around Mariners land.

Sucre injured, Bantz joins big club

Mariners’ catcher Jesus Sucre took a bat to the left wrist in last night’s game after Alexei Ramirez took his backswing a little bit too far. X-rays didn’t reveal any broken bones, but Sucre is still expected to miss three-to-four days. As being down to one catcher is a less than ideal situation, the Mariners promoted Brandon Bantz from Tacoma this morning to fill in for a few days. The M’s sent Carlos Truinfel, who still was yet to record a hit, back to AAA.

Bantz, the Mariners’ 30th round pick in 2009 has only played three games this season at the AAA level. Last year, he hit .229 in Tacoma with two homers in 34 games. He was hitting just .178 in Jackson when he got the call to Tacoma. Optimism isn’t exactly high for this move, and Bantz may not play at all.

Guti to 60-day DL

As a result of Bantz’s call up, the Mariners needed to make a 40-man roster move. They elected to move Franklin Gutierrez from the 15-day DL to the 60-day one. Guti recently ran out of rehab time in Tacoma and was declared unfit to come off of the disabled list. This isn’t a huge setback for him, however, as his injury’s retroactive status makes him eligible to come off the DL on June 22 if he’s ready. He most likely won’t be though.

Mariners go for first sweep of 2013

It’s incredible that this team is only seven games under .500 when you consider that they had an eight-game losing streak and still have yet to sweep a series. Their best chance so far is this afternoon however, with their most consistent pitcher in Hisashi Iwakuma on the hill against Dylan Axelrod. If the Mariners plan to dig out of this hole, they have to win games like this. Here’s the lineup:

  1. Chavez RF
  2. Bay LF
  3. Seager 3B
  4. Morales 1B
  5. Ibanez DH
  6. Franklin 2B
  7. Saunders CF
  8. Shoppach C
  9. Ryan SS

Also, I’m going on the Yanks Go Yard radio show tonight previewing the Yankees series which starts tomorrow. Give it a listen at 6:30 PT!