SEATTLE (AP) -Miguel Batista left his start against Oakland Friday night with a strained groin after walking five of 10 batters, becoming the fourth Seattle Mariners pitcher this month to get hurt.
The 37-year-old Batista, who has had tightness in his lower back and hip intermittently since spring training, allowed three runs and labored through 42 pitches in the first inning. He walked in one run, then allowed a second run to score when he threw a wild pitch to the backstop on a fly.
The inning was so rough that the large home crowd, which was booing most of his pitches, cheered mockingly when he managed an occasional strike.
After Batista walked Kurt Suzuki leading off the second, Mariners manager John McLaren walked to the mound with a trainer and quickly summoned Cha Seung Baek from the bullpen. Batista went directly to the clubhouse with the trainer.
The Mariners soon announced their leader in wins (16) last season had a mild right groin strain. He will be reevaluated Saturday.
Thursday, starter Jarrod Washburn got hit in the ankle with a line drive and pitched most of his five innings in pain. Wednesday, Carlos Silva got his spikes caught in the dirt of the mound on a pickoff throw and had to leave a start with tightness in the right thigh. Seattle considers both of those injuries minor enough that each should make his next start.
Erik Bedard, the ace of the battered staff that was supposed to lead Seattle into their first postseason appearance since 2001 this season, is scheduled to come off the disabled list and start Saturday night. Bedard has been on the DL since April 9 with inflammation in his left hip. Bedard has missed two starts and had a third pushed back this month.
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