The Whales never trailed in the game as starter Emiliano Giron kept the Bears off the scoreboard in the six innings he pitched for a comfortable 5-0 lead, before reliever Shen Yu-jeh finally surrendered the Bears' lone run of the game on a run-scoring single in the bottom of the seventh to break up the shutout.
The Seattle Mariners signed former Hanshin infielder Dave Hansen to a minor league contract on Thursday, and he was to join the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers for their game at Salt Lake City.
The 36-year-old Hansen spent the first half of last season with Seattle, then was traded to San Diego last July. He went to spring training this year with the Chicago Cubs but was released before camp ended.
The Mariners initially acquired Hansen though the six-player trade in January 2004 where Seattle unloaded Jeff Cirillo. Hansen, used mostly as a pinch-hitter, hit .282 with two home runs in 57 games with Seattle.
He's among the career leaders in career pinch-hits, ranking fifth with 137, and he ranks seventh with 15 pinch-hit homers. Among active players, he is second with 22 career pinch-hit doubles.
Hansen has played with Los Angeles (1990-1996, 1999-2002), the Cubs (1997) San Diego (2003-2004) and Seattle (2004). He spent the 1998 season with Hanshin in Japan.
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