The left-hander has missed his past two starts

[zhangzk]

For the first half of the season , Marco Gonzales was a pain in the neck for opposing batters.But recently, it’s a pain in his neck that’s kept Gonzales sidelined. last Friday and is expected to come off the disabled list Tuesday to start the series opener against the San Diego Padres at Safeco Field.Article continues below ...“I was dealing with some fatigue, some neck aches, some things I was battling through and trying to push through, hoping it would get better,” Gonzales told MLB.com. “So, putting that aside, I think there’s not going to be anything stopping me from returning to what I was doing before.”Gonzales was 12-5 with a 3.37 ERA through his first 21 starts this season. But in August he was 0-4 with a 10.35 ERA in four appearances.“I want to see the same guy we saw in June and July,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “He was cruising. He does feel fine physically and is throwing all his pitches in the bullpen. He probably won’t go as long. First time out, you’re probably looking at 75 pitches or something like that. Again, we just want to see him healthy, executing pitches and feeling good about things.”Gonzales admitted being on the DL for the past 10 days while his teammates have tried to stay in the American League playoff race has been frustrating. The Mariners have dropped 7 1 /2 games behind Oakland in the chase for the league’s second and final wild-card berth.“Those are obviously very important starts,” he told MLB.com. “The opponents are very important that we’re going to be facing , so I won’t take it lightly. I’ve been anxious and champing at the bit the past couple weeks as I’ve been waiting to get back out there.”The Padres are scheduled to start right-hander Bryan Mitchell (1-3, 6.58 ERA) in the opener of the two-game series. Mitchell will be making his second start since missing three months with a right elbow impingement. In his first appearance off the DL on Sept. 3, Mitchell allowed one run and two hits in five innings of a 6-2 victory against Arizona.“I’m just trying to take things one start at a time,” Mitchell told MLB.com. “I know nothing’s guaranteed at this point. But it’s definitely a good stepping stone moving forward. (The Arizona game) felt really good after the way the season’s gone for me. I needed that one.”With off days and a six-man rotation, Mitchell has had plenty of rest since his last start.“If they have six or seven days off in between, it’s not going to hurt them at this point in the season,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “I don’t think we have a huge plan to alter this rotation. (Mitchell) did a solid job (against Arizona), and we want him to continue to build off it.”Neither Mitchell nor Gonzales (12-9, 4.32) has ever faced Tuesday’s opponent before.The Padres swept a two-game series between the teams in late August in San Diego, winning 2-1 and 8-3. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Trey Mancini kept the Baltimore Orioles from beating themselves Wednesday night.Mancini hit a go-ahead two-run double in the ninth inning, and the last-place Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 despite committing five errors, their most in a game in more than 19 years.It was the first time the Orioles committed five errors in a victory since June 9 , 1983.“I don’t know the last time I’ve been part of a game that we’ve had five errors and won,” Mancini said. “But baseball can be a very beautiful thing sometimes where maybe you make some mistakes, but maybe at the end of the day you still do enough to win the game.”Sergio Romo (2-3) allowed consecutive hits to Mark Trumbo, Danny Valencia and Mancini in the ninth, the only three batters he faced. It was Romo’s seventh blown save.“It just kind of happened, maybe location,” Romo said. “I haven’t seen the replay and I don’t think I’m going to. I think I’ll just chalk that one up to the baseball gods.”Tampa Bay has played five straight one-run games and lost four of them.It was only the second time in 73 tries the Orioles won a game when trailing after eight innings.“It’s been a challenge for us,” manager Buck Showalter said. “You just don’t win major league games very often like that.”Mike Wright Jr. (3-0) got two outs in relief, and Mychal Givens pitched the ninth for his third save.Carlos Gomez put Tampa Bay ahead 4-3 in the eighth with an RBI double off Wright. He also scored the tying run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly fielded by the shortstop.Tim Beckham and Adam Jones homered on consecutive pitches in the first inning off opener Ryne Stanek. Trumbo led off the fourth with his 16th homer, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.Baltimore starter Andrew Cashner gave up three runs and four hits in seven innings. Only one of the runs was earned.After giving up three singles and two runs in the first inning, Cashner retired 18 of his next 19 before hitting Gomez with a pitch in the seventh. Kevin Kiermaier then bounced into an apparent forceout, but Beckham, playing shortstop , missed the base with his foot.Willy Adames followed with a hit when Beckham lost his footing on a grounder to deep short, loading the bases. And after Beckham caught Michael Perez’s flyball in short left field, Gomez tagged up. Beckham’s throw was way off line, allowing Gomez to score.“Cash was the difference tonight,” Showalter said. “He didn’t give up a hard-hit ball in the first inning and he gave up two runs, but he just kept pitching.”Stanek pitched two innings, giving up the homers to Beckham and Jones while striking out four. It was Beckham’s sixth home run and Jones’ 12th.TRAINER’S ROOMOrioles: Switch-hitting INF Steve Wilkerson (left oblique strain) still has some discomfort swinging from the left side and is not ready for a rehab assignment.Rays: OF Tommy Pham (hairline right foot fracture) played catch and hit off a tee, and could return later this month. … Reliever Chaz Roe (left knee) will start a rehab assignment Thursday night was Class A Charlotte.UP NEXTRHP David Hess, who pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings against the Rays in his last victory on May 25, will pitch Thursday night’s series finale for the Orioles against Rays opener Hunter Wood, probably followed by Yonny Chirinos.

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]