TORONTO -- It had been 13 months since Christian Bergman made a Major League start and, considering the circumstances, the 29-year-old right-hander did his part to keep the Mariners close on Friday in a 4-0 loss to the Blue Jays.
Such is the state of the Mariners at the moment that the primary goal with four fill-in starters is to keep the game in hand for five innings or so, turn things over to a bullpen that has been very solid at the back end and count on the offense to score enough to make it all work.