Mariners ring for Messenger service

This time, when the Mariners came calling, Randy Messenger answered.

Messenger was promoted Monday from Triple-A Tacoma when the Mariners optioned reliever Mark Lowe. Lowe is unavailable to pitch for a few days because of an injury.

The Mariners signed Messenger on July 10, one day after the San Francisco Giants gave him his release at his request. The Mariners thought they were going to bring him up after shipping Arthur Rhodes to the Florida Marlins at the July 31 trade deadline, but Messenger turned them down.

"I'd have been up earlier, but my wife was having our first child, and there were some complications, both for her and for our daughter," Messenger said shortly after arriving in the Mariners clubhouse. "So I told them I couldn't come up."

Things are fine now with his wife, Vanessa, and daughter, Francesca Alana, born Aug. 1.

The Mariners brought up Jake Woods when Messenger wasn't available. Now there is room for both in the bullpen.

Manager Jim Riggleman has a passing knowledge of Messenger dating to when Riggleman worked for the St. Louis Cardinals and Messenger pitched for the Marlins. The Cardinals and Marlins shared a Florida spring training facility.

Riggleman envisions Messenger pitching in much the same role as Lowe -- middle and long relief.

Messenger, 27, hopes to show the Mariners he belongs after going 6-0 with a 2.38 ERA in a dozen games with Tacoma, all in relief.

That's a chance he didn't get with San Francisco, the organization he was with in 2006 and 2007.

"With the Giants, I asked for my release," Messenger said. "I didn't see a fit there; it wasn't working."

He was 3-4 with a 4.83 ERA in 29 games of relief with Fresno, San Francisco's Triple-A franchise.

"(Seattle) gave me an opportunity to pitch and get to the big leagues, which is all I wanted," Messenger said. "I'm happy with the way everything worked out."

LOWE AND BEHOLD: Lowe, still in pain after taking a Frank Thomas line drive off his left foot, might have been ready to pitch this weekend.

The Mariners, however, didn't want to take that chance and optioned Lowe to Tacoma instead of placing him on the disabled list.

"It hurts, but it's getting better," Lowe said. "I don't think it's going to be too long before I can pitch again. So I'll pitch in Tacoma in a few days, and then I guess I'll be back here."

That's the Mariners' plan.

"We think he'll be able to pitch well before his time on the DL is up," Riggleman said. "And we'll be able to bring him back on Sept. 1 when the minor-league season is over and the rosters expand."

Of course, it didn't help Lowe's cause that he hasn't been particularly effective and certainly not close to the form he showed when he was promoted from Double-A in 2006.

"I wasn't here then, but I understand he had an unhittable slider a couple of years ago before the (elbow) surgery," Riggleman said.

That slider has been in scant supply this year, but as the team is quick to point out, Lowe is just one year removed from his surgery. More often than not, arm strength returns a year after surgery but control and finesse need more time.

"The hope is that being two years removed from surgery (in 2009), he'll come back next year closer to being the pitcher he was in 2006," Riggleman said.

A DOZEN, ANYONE? Second baseman Jose Lopez matched his career best with his 11th home run Sunday.

With almost five weeks left in the season, there's every reason to believe Lopez will crush his record, set last season.

However, Lopez says he won't be thinking about hitting homers.

"When I go up there, I'm just thinking about hits," he said. "Not homers. I'm trying to hit the ball in the gap."

That hasn't been a problem this year for the second baseman, who entered Monday's series opener against the Minnesota Twins with a .297 average, 154 hits, 32 doubles and one triple in addition to the 11 homers. His doubles total is already a season best and he needs just 17 hits for a personal record.

He had an 0-for-18 slide earlier in the month, but that doesn't seem to have put him off his game any.

"I don't think about that," he said. "Once the game is over, it's over. Each time I'm just getting ready for the next day."

EXTRA BASES: Left fielder Raul Ibanez spent most of the pregame with Sam Bridgman, a 16-year-old from Nathan Hale High, who was with him as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation's work. Bridgman, who suffers from a degenerative nerve disease called Friedreich's ataxia, spent time around the batting cage and got introductions to most of the Mariners from Ibanez. ... Erik Bedard, who hasn't pitched since July 4, made 50 throws at 90 feet Monday and will do so again Tuesday. Still, the Mariners don't have a firm time for Bedard to get back on a bullpen mound to prepare for a return to the rotation. It remains unclear whether the left-hander will pitch again this season. ... Carlos Silva is being targeted to start on Sunday, the first day he's eligible to come off the disabled list. Silva is throwing again after suffering right elbow biceps tendinitis in his last start Aug. 15. ... Adrian Beltre's sore left shoulder has improved enough that he was able to return to the starting lineup Monday on defense after spending two days as the designated hitter. ... Jeff Clement, who has been out of the lineup with left knee issues for three games running, is due to return to duty behind the plate Tuesday. ... Riggleman said having Yuniesky Betancourt bat second is working out well enough, but that it's mostly a move the manager will use against left-handed starting pitching. The manager applauded Betancourt's recently improved willingness to lay off pitches that aren't strikes.