Weary Mariners bullpen looks to regroup against A's

The Seattle Mariners' bullpen isn't exactly providing much relief lately.

With the score tied 1-1 through 5 1/2 innings Thursday afternoon at Minnesota, Mariners relievers allowed six runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh in a 10-5 loss to the American League Central-leading Twins.

Seattle's bullpen blew leads in each of the other two games of the series, although the Mariners won one of them in extra innings.

Seattle concludes a nine-game road trip with a three-game series at Oakland starting Friday night.

"Guys in the middle of our bullpen have had a rough go of it of late," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "We have to get them back on track. You have to keep getting them back out there and giving them a chance to figure it out."

Right-hander Brandon Brennan (2-6) was charged with both losses in the Twin Cities. Brennan faced seven batters and failed to retire any of them, with all seven scoring.

Brennan, 27, was a Rule 5 pickup in the offseason and, for the first two months of the season, was the Mariners' most reliable reliever with a 2.05 ERA.

But over his past nine appearances, Brennan has a 17.61 ERA -- allowing 15 runs in 7 2/3 innings with 11 hits and eight walks.

MLB.com reported Brennan underwent some medical tests after Thursday's game due to concern with fatigue in his back and right shoulder. Later Friday, the Mariners placed him on the 10-day injured list with a strained right shoulder.

"It's becoming more work," Brennan told MLB.com before the diagnosis. "Usually it's free and easy, like the beginning of the year when you're fresh. I don't know if it's just different because I haven't had this big of a work load coming from the minor leagues. I'm trying to adjust to the game up here, so it's probably more fatigue than anything."

The Mariners are scheduled to send left-hander Marco Gonzales (6-6, 4.77 ERA) to the mound in the series opener in Oakland against Athletics right-hander Chris Bassitt (3-2, 3.57). Gonzales is 2-1 with a 3.91 ERA in five career appearances against Oakland, including four starts; Bassitt is 0-2 with a 3.33 ERA against Seattle in five games with four starts.

Gonzales beat the A's in the season opener in Japan, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits in six innings, with one walk and four strikeouts.

The A's return for a season-long, 10-game homestand after going 6-4 on a trip in which they faced the Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays.

Oakland wrapped up its long road trip Wednesday with a 6-2 victory against the Rays, thanks to Ramon Laureano's grand slam.

That put the A's above .500 at 35-34.

"It's fun; we like it," Laureano told MLB.com. "The whole trip was pretty positive, pretty fun the whole time.

"(The grand slam) was huge. I was just trying to get one run, and we got four. I know it was a relieving moment for all of us, and we're going home happy."

The A's took three of the final four games of the trip after losing both games of a doubleheader Saturday in Texas.

"These guys showed last year they're fighters," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "We've gone through some little bit tougher stretches this year and been tested, but these guys are really good about putting a game away and going out there and playing for that day, playing 100 percent and doing the same thing the next day no matter what happens."

--Field Level Media