MARINERS NOTEBOOK: Latest loss turns Washburn reticent

The truly regrettable pitch was an 0-2 slider to Minnesota rookie Denard Span in the second inning with the bases loaded and the Twins leading 1-0.

“That one pitch I’m sure Wash wishes he had back,” Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said.

Span hit the ball down the first-base line and it scooted into the corner, allowing all three runners to score and giving Span a triple for a 4-0 Twins lead.

Washburn will be credited with a quality start, meaning he pitched six innings and allowed only three earned runs. Four runs scored on five hits, but only three were earned. He issued three walks and had six strikeouts.

“As he’s always done, with the exception of his last start, he was deep in the game and gave us a chance to win,” Riggleman said.

Balentien’s better eye

The scouting report on how to pitch Wladimir Balentien has been pretty standard lately: Pitch him away with off-speed stuff early in the count because he’s so aggressive, then blast him with fastballs on his hands because he can’t lay off them and he can’t drive them anywhere.

But Balentien is trying to buck that trend.

“I’ve been getting better at laying off the breaking stuff away and waiting to get better pitches to hit,” he said.

As for maintaining his aggressiveness at the plate Balentien said he just needs to be aggressive on good pitches.

“I just have to concentrate on hitting good pitches,” he said.

This is Balentien’s second time around with the Mariners this season. The first time resulted in .196 batting average, 35 strikeouts and a demotion to Tacoma. But for many players it does get easier. Balentien admitted that the circumstances surrounding his first call-up were far different with the Mariners feebly clinging to their fading hopes.

“The first time when I came up, the team was struggling and I wanted to do so much to help out,” he said. “I kind of created more pressure that I put on myself.”

There is no such pressure now. The team is out of it, and a commitment has been made to play younger players like Balentien to prepare for the future.

“Now it’s a different situation,” he said. “I just have to play the game, do what I do and try to be myself.”

It seems to be working. He has hits in each of the two games since his return, including a fourth inning single Wednesday, when he reached out and poked a breaking pitch away into the center field.