LOS ANGELES – Gold Glove third baseman Adrian Beltre was in the lineup Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he won’t play again until after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his left shoulder.
Beltre will stay in Southern California and await a time when Dr. Lew Yocumb can perform the operation that the Seattle Mariners say likely will keep Beltre out of the lineup for four to eight weeks.
“We’ve been bracing for this for a while,” general manager Jack Zduriencik said. “It creates a dilemma, but it creates an opportunity, too.”
Asked if it was one play that pushed the decision on him, Beltre shook his head.
“It’s everything I do, the way it feels every day,” he said.
Beltre said trying to play through the pain wasn’t working.
“It would be different if I was helping the team, but I’m not,” Beltre said.
Medical tests showed a large spur in Beltre’s left – non-throwing – shoulder, and nothing short of surgery will repair it.
What will the Mariners do without him?
Russell Branyan has played third base in the past, and moving him would let the team slide Mike Carp into the lineup at first base. That said, it’s unlikely.
Branyan is playing well enough at first to handle his own – moving him to third, where he’s less effective, wouldn’t help Seattle’s infield defense.
More likely, Jose Lopez will move from second base to third, and Ronny Cedeño and Chris Woodward could play second base.
Beltre, 30, is in the final year of his contract, and the surgery means he’s virtually untradeable before or at the July 31 deadline.
In 71 games this season, Beltre is batting .260 with five home runs and 30 RBI.
“I’ve never been 100 percent since surgery last year to fix this,” Beltre said. “They said there was a small chance the spur would grow back. My luck, I was one of those whose spur came back – and it’s bigger than last year. It hurts more.”
If Beltre has the surgery during the next week, he likely would be able to return in August or early September.
“It’s tough to lose Endy Chavez, then Adrian,” Zduriencik said. “I wish I had 25 Adrian Beltres. He’s a tough guy, he wants to be part of what we’re doing here.
“After tonight, we’ll talk to the doctor and schedule the surgery.”
Scare of the day
After losing outfielder Endy Chavez, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and Beltre to injuries during the past 10 days, the Mariners watched Franklin Gutierrez take a header rounding second base on his double during the second inning Saturday.
Team trainer Rick Griffin and manager Don Wakamatsu ran to Gutierrez, who was shaken but stayed in the game.
Money talk
The Mariners started face-to-face talks with agent Scott Boras about first-round draft pick Dustin Ackley on Saturday – and it wasn’t as if they tried to hide it.
In the fist row of seats behind home plate, Boras and Zduriencik sat throughout the game, chatting and never once coming to blows.
Was Ackley, the No. 2 pick in the country, signed?
No.
Streaking again
Ichiro Suzuki’s leadoff single in the first inning Saturday gave him a 10-game hitting streak.
He had a franchise-record 27-game hitting streak earlier this season. It ended June 5.
On tap
Seattle concludes this interleague series with a 1:10 p.m. game today that will be broadcast on FSN. Probable starting pitchers: Garrett Olson (2-2, 4.95 ERA) vs. Hiroki Kuroda (1-3, 3.86).
larry.larue@thenewstribune.com
blogs.thenewstribune.com/mariners
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