Mariners boost bullpen with trades for Duke, Warren

The Seattle Mariners made a pair of moves on Monday to strengthen their bullpen in their pursuit of an AL wild-card berth, picking up veterans Zach Duke and Adam Warren.Seattle announced the acquisition of the left-handed Duke, 35, along with cash considerations from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for righty Chase De Jong and minor league infielder Ryan Costello.In a second deal, the Mariners sent international bonus pool money to the New York Yankees for Warren.Duke is 10th among active left-handers with 513 career games and is one of three active pitchers with at least 150 relief appearances and 150 starts in the majors. Seattle is his ninth organization. He is 17-14 with a 3.20 ERA in 344 career relief appearances, and 64-89 with a 4.28 ERA overall, making 169 starts.Warren, who turns 31 next month, has a 2.70 ERA in 30 innings of work across 24 games this season, striking out 37 and walking 12. He is 23-22 with a 3.40 ERA in seven MLB seasons, all but a brief stint with the Chicago Cubs spent in pinstripes. After making a career-high 17 starts in 2015, Warren has started only twice since.De Jong, 24, is 5-5, with a 3.80 ERA in 21 starts with Double-A Arkansas this season, being named a Texas League midseason All-Star. He was 0-3 with a 6.35 ERA in seven games (four starts) with the Mariners in 2017, his only season in the majors.Costello, 22, batted .266 with 16 home runs and 70 RBIs in 101 games with Class-A Clinton this season. The Mariners, who finished the weekend two games ahead of Oakland for the second wild-card spot in the AL, made a handful of other transactions ahead of their Monday night home game against the Houston Astros.James Paxton, who was out 2 1/2 weeks due to lower back inflammation, was activated from the DL to start the series opener vs. Houston. Paxton is 8-4 with a 3.70 ERA this year, and he threw a no-hitter at Toronto in May, but he has lost three of his past five starts.First baseman Daniel Vogelbach was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma to clear a roster spot for Paxton. Vogelbach, 25, hit .212 with two homers and seven RBIs in 25 games for Seattle this season.The Mariners also placed third baseman Kyle Seager on paternity leave and purchased the contract of shortstop Zach Vincej from Tacoma. Seager, 30, has appeared in all but one game for Seattle this season, batting .228 with a .278 on-base percentage, a .409 slugging percentage, 16 homers and 57 RBIs.In 84 Triple-A games this year, Vincej, 27, hit .236 with a .301 on-base percentage, a .341 slugging percentage, six homers and 44 RBIs. He made his major league debut for the Cincinnati Reds last year, going 1-for-9 with no RBIs in nine games.The Mariners also brought back left-hander Marc Rzepczynski on a minor league contract. Rzepczynski, 32, began the season with Seattle but was released on June 6 after going 0-1 with a 9.39 ERA in 18 appearances. He subsequently signed with the Cleveland Indians and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings over five appearances this month before he was outrighted off the roster and elected free agency.