BOSTON – Ryan Langerhans went six days without an at-bat, then started a game against CC Sabathia – and wound up winning a job as Seattle’s left fielder.

No, it’s not permanent. It’s not as if Ken Griffey Jr. or Wladimir Balentien will never get out there again.

But, in his first two starts with the M’s, he had two hits in each and three of his four hits were doubles. A left-handed hitter in a largely right-handed lineup, he has made a solid first impression.

“He’s a very athletic kid,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “He may be a bit like Russell Branyan, a guy who floated around baseball and got bits and pieces of playing time but never had it click.

“He plays solid defense and gives us depth in center field, he hits left-handers pretty well, he hangs in there against them.”

Langerhans is not a power hitter, not a heart-of-the-order bat, and he knows that. Knowing what he can and cannot do has made him a better player, he said.

“The first time I was traded, I tried to do too much and make an impression,” Langerhans said. “My game is doing the little things. I can contribute, and that’s the goal, to contribute – especially in wins. The one thing I didn’t want to happen was to get in games and start losing, have guys think I’m a jinx or something.”

At 29, Langerhans has played 476 big-league games and 472 minor league games. His career batting average in the majors is .233. The nicest surprise for him after being traded from Washington to Seattle for Mike Morse was how the players accepted him.

“They made me feel comfortable right away, guys like Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Sweeney,” Langerhans said.

Did Junior tease him?

“Right away,” Langerhans said, laughing. “This is a great group of guys, and they’re – what? – 21/2 games out of first place? ... My first night, I had a little more adrenaline than usual. My second game, things started to slow down a bit.

“I get the feeling here, little things mean a lot. We use the bunt, we hit-and-run, we steal a base. I can do those things.”

He was doing them a week ago in Triple-ASyracuse, and his last game was June 27. For the next six days, he didn’t play an inning, didn’t get an at-bat.

And then? In his first appearance with the Mariners, he doubled against Sabathia.

“I was pretty happy about that,” he said.

Short hops

Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt likely won’t be activated from the disabled list until after the All-Star break. Why? The team doesn’t want to hurry him back from a strained hamstring to have him play the last week before the break and risk aggravating the injury. So they’ll play it cautious, perhaps sending Betancourt to Tacoma late in the week for a couple of games. … Broadcaster Dave Niehaus put a scare in his wife Saturday morning when he was hard to awaken after his blood sugar level dropped into the 30s. Paramedicss were called, Niehaus made a quick hospital stop – for food and orange juice – and made it to the ballpark in time to call the game. “I’m fine. I had a reaction to some insulin, but I’m fine,” Niehaus insisted. “No big deal.”

On tap

Seattle concludes its trip with a 10:35 a.m. (PDT) game today that will be televised on FSN. Probable starting pitchers: Brandon Morrow (0-3, 5.14 ERA) vs. Bellarmine Prep graduate Jon Lester (7-6, 4.35).

larry.larue@thenewstribune.com

blogs.thenewstribune.com/mariners