Bergman returns to Mariners on Minors pact

SEATTLE -- Christian Bergman, who made eight fill-in starts for an injury-plagued Mariners rotation last year, has re-signed with Seattle on a Minor League deal that includes an invitation to Major League camp next month.
Bergman provides some additional depth for the Mariners, who used a club-record 17 starters and a Major League-record tying 41 pitchers overall last year. They now have 11 of those starters returning.
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The 29-year-old right-hander went 4-5 with a 5.00 ERA in 13 games, including five relief appearances, in his first season with the Mariners after pitching for the Rockies from 2014-16. Bergman owns a career mark of 11-14 with a 5.58 ERA in 68 Major League games, including 23 starts.
Bergman was outstanding in several of his starts in May and June, throwing 7 1/3 scoreless innings with two hits and nine strikeouts against the A's and seven shutout innings on four hits against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. But he also got hit hard in several outings, giving up 14 hits and 10 runs in four innings at the Nationals and 10 hits and nine runs in 2 2/3 innings at the Twins.
Those two poor outings raised Bergman's ERA to 5.70 in his eight starts, though it was 2.00 in the six other opportunities. He was sent back to Tacoma in late June, but he returned to Seattle in August and posted a 2.35 ERA in 7 2/3 innings over four relief appearances before finishing the year in Triple-A.
The California native was 9-4 with a 5.34 ERA in 16 starts for Tacoma.