Mariners notebook: Who will start Tuesday?

SEATTLE — Mum is still the Mariners’ message about Tuesday’s starter.

But all signs are pointing to Mike Montgomery getting his major-league debut to face the New York Yankees in place of injured James Paxton.

Manager Lloyd McClendon was still not ready or willing before Sunday’s marathon, 6-3 loss to Cleveland to announce who will take the first rotation turn since his young No. 3 starter went on the disabled list with a strained left middle finger. Paxton is on a two-week shutdown from all throwing.

But the 25-year-old Montgomery, the left-hander Seattle got at the end of spring training from Tampa Bay in the trade of Erasmo Ramirez, was scratched from his scheduled start Sunday for Triple-A Tacoma.

McClendon met with general manager Jack Zduriencik in the manager’s clubhouse office until about 10:45 Sunday morning. When asked after that about Montgomery’s scratch from his Tacoma start, McClendon pleaded ignorance.

“I’ve got my own problems here, so I don’t know why he was scratched from his start,” McClendon said.

“We are still working on some things (about Tuesday’s starter for Paxton). Spoke to Jack this morning. Just not definite.”

Montgomery was a 2008 compensation pick by Kansas City. He has spent his entire professional career in the minors. He is 4-3 with a 3.74 ERA in nine starts with Tacoma this season. He has allowed 47 hits in 53 innings, with 47 strikeouts and 15 walks and 1.17 walks-plus-hits per inning pitched.

He was 10-5 with a 4.29 ERA last season as a starter for the Rays’ Triple-A team in Durham.

Iwakuma’s goal: Bullpen next weekend

Injured No. 2 starter Hisashi Iwakuma, on the disabled list with a strained right lat, took a rest day Saturday from his throwing regimen in his rehabilitation to rejoin the rotation. McClendon said the right-hander has a plan to throw all this coming week off flat ground in the hopes of a bullpen session by next weekend.

The manager said the plan includes Iwakuma joining the Mariners on their road trip to Cleveland, Houston and San Francisco June 9-16.

The Mariners couldn’t get this far in an earlier attempt at rehabilitation, so this is progress. Iwakuma’s been out since April 24, 35 games ago.

Morrison owns up

Forgotten among all that went on in Sunday’s 12 innings, when Cleveland had 16 hits but just three runs until Dominic Leone’s meltdown in the final inning and Seattle went from the sixth to 10th innings without a baserunner: Logan Morrison had an especially eventful day at first base.

After Cleveland had trimmed Seattle’s lead to 3-1 in the sixth on Ryan Raburn’s home run, Morrison charged to field Mike Aviles’ sacrifice-bunt attempt near the mound. Even though runner Brandon Moss was already sliding into third base, Morrison attempted to throw him out — presumably on the orders of catcher Wellington Castillo; the catcher usually makes those calls. Moss was safe, and the Indians had the bases loaded with no outs.

Michael Bourn singled home Moss to make it 3-2. Then Morrison grabbed Jose Ramirez’s ground ball to his left. While stepping on first base for that out, Morrison deftly threw in the same motion to the plate. Castillo tagged out the sliding Yan Gomes for an unusual, nifty double play.

“The ball took me to the bag. And I knew the catcher was running,” Morrison said of his alert play.

But then in the fateful 12th he allowed a hard grounder by No. 9 hitter Jose Ramirez to go off his glove into foul ground down the right-field line. That double fueled Cleveland’s three-run rally to win.

“I’ve got to make that play,” Morrison said. “I’m on the line there for a reason: No doubles. And they got a double.”

Short hops

J.A. Happ was effective for his five innings — eight hits but just two runs allowed, with one walk. But he was continually behind in the count and threw 101 pitches in his five, laborious innings. That was one reason the Mariners had to use eight pitchers in all, finally running out of them while having to stick with the erratic Leone throughout the 12th. “Too many 2-0 counts,” said Happ (3-1, 3.70 ERA), who still has just one win and five no decisions since April 28. The home run he allowed Sunday, by Ryan Raburn was on a, yes, 2-0 pitch. … Seattle’s high-wire closer lowered his ERA to 6.75 with a typical Fernando Rodney Experience, though this one was in a non-save situation. Rodney allowed a double to Brandon Moss, who went 4-for-5, in the ninth and then walked Gomes with one out. But Rodney got Lonnie Chisenhall to fly out and Michael Bourn to line out so the game stayed tied into extra innings. … Felix Hernandez will make his 17th career start versus the Yankees on Monday. He is 9-5 with a 2.87 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 122 career innings against them. That includes 3-3 with a 3.79 ERA in eight starts, two complete games, at Safeco Field against them.