SEATTLE — As good as the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen has been in compiling a 2.63 ERA, the final two innings of their most recent road trip nonetheless provided a measure of reassurance.
Veteran setup man Joaquin Benoit was far sharper Sunday in the 5-4 win at Cincinnati in working a 10-pitch eighth inning than in a 29-pitch trek last Thursday at Baltimore, which marked his first outing in nearly four weeks.
That got the game to Steve Cishek in his first save situation since blowing one-run leads on successive nights in May 13-14 losses to the Los Angeles Angels at Safeco Field — where the Mariners returned Monday night to begin an eight-game homestand by facing Oakland.
Cishek delivered a one-two-three inning against the Reds for his 12th save in 15 opportunities.
“I was hoping for that opportunity in Baltimore,” he said, “but our offense was too good. The first night (in Cincinnati), it looked like I was going in for a three-run save. Those are always nice. But, again, we put a hurting on them.”
Benoit admitted his felt rusty last Thursday against the Orioles after being sidelined since April 21 because of inflammation in his shoulder.
“It feels better and better,” Benoit said. “I believe that the more I get on the mound, the better I’ll feel.”
And that should only make the bullpen better.
“It’s great to see him out there,” manager Scott Servais said. “It really allows us to do some other things in the sixth and seventh inning, knowing that you have him and Cishek rested behind those games.”
Servais said before Monday’s game he’ll be reluctant for now to use Benoit in consecutive games. But the manager reiterated the right-hander’s return resets the bullpen to the ways the Mariners wanted to employ it coming out of spring training.
“Yeah, it really does,” Servais said. “It gives you more options in the sixth and seventh innings.”
Specifically, it allows right-hander Nick Vincent and lefties Vidal Nuno and Mike Montgomery to serve as a sixth-and-seventh inning bridge. Those three entered Monday’s series opener against Oakland with ERAs of 1.40, 1.29 and 1.90.
Veteran right-hander Joel Peralta had served, because of his experience, as the bullpen’s primary eighth-inning reliever in Benoit’s absence. There were some bumps, as evidenced by his 4.42 ERA in 21 outings.
Peralta now joins righty Steve Johnson in lower-leverage roles as the Mariners await progress on four other injured relievers: lefty Charlie Furbush and right-handers Tony Zych, Aaron Cook and Evan Scribner.
“It was clicking before but now, with Joaquin, we’re deeper,” Cishek said. “That helps Peralta and me out a lot. We were getting used quite a bit early on.”
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