Another injury no shock for M's

When Evan Marshall heard he was going back to the big leagues, maybe he should have begged off.

After all, the Seattle Mariners’ pitching staff has been taking casualties as though they were hitting the beach on D-Day.

In fact, just as Marshall arrived on Friday night, the M’s were announcing that stud lefty James Paxton (3-0, 1.39 ERA) was headed to the disabled list with a strained forearm.

As fate would have it, Seattle needed Marshall immediately as Friday’s game against Texas dragged into the 11th inning.

And why was Marshall summoned in that spot?

Well, Jean Machi opened the inning, got two outs and then informed manager Scott Servais that he had a nerve issue in his pitching hand and couldn’t really feel the ball.

That was Marshall’s cue, and because Machi left because of an injury, Marshall got all the time he needed to warm up.

Finally loose and ready to go, Marshall threw exactly two pitches to Joey Gallo – then let out a scream as his hamstring gave way on the second one.

SERVAIS couldn’t possibly have been surprised.

Of the five starters he had penciled in for his rotation during spring training, three (Paxton, Felix Hernandez and Drew Smyly) are now on the disabled list.

So why would Servais be shocked at losing two relievers in the span of three pitches?

Things have gotten so desperate that Servais didn’t even have a true starter available for Sunday’s game against the Rangers.

Instead, relievers Dillon Overton, Nick Vincent, Christian Bergman (just recalled that day), Marc Rzepczynski and Edwin Diaz cobbled together a decent outing in a 4-3 victory.

Oh, and by the way, the everyday lineup hasn’t been spared in this cursed first month.

Mitch Haniger, the rookie right fielder who was hitting .342 and playing outstanding defense, strained an oblique muscle on the last road trip – in the same game that King Felix departed after two innings with bursitis in his pitching shoulder.

Haniger left the lineup almost coincidentally with the return of shortstop Jean Segura, who missed the first two weeks of the season.

“It is what it is,” Servais said of all the injuries. “Guys get hurt. It happens to everybody. It’s just happening to us all at the same time.”

DESPITE all the injuries, the Mariners have plugged away after their 2-8 start, and now sit within two games of .500 at 15-17.

Unfortunately, Houston (21-11) is showing signs of being the absolute class of the AL West, and may just ride off into the distance.

Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto must go home each night and weep into the darkness. After all, he made a series of deals during the winter that seemed to give the M’s a pennant-chasing roster.

Dipoto basically stole Haniger and Segura from Arizona in a deal that sent erratic right-hander Taijuan Walker in the other direction.

Hernandez, Paxton, Smyly, Ariel Miranda and Hisashi Iwakuma appeared to form a nice rotation, with Yovani Gallardo signed as a free agent for insurance.

As it stands, however, only those latter three can reach home plate with a baseball, and Iwakuma is questionable with a sore knee after getting whacked with a line drive.

You don’t have to be Abner Doubleday to figure out that if you’re using five relievers to get through a game – and starting that parade in the first inning -- the bullpen will be fried by the All-Star break.

The Mariners are hurting in more ways than one.

Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. Reach Steve via email at scameron@cdapress.com.