Mariners' Christian Bergman: Optioned to minors

Bergman was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday.

With the Mariners preparing for Felix Hernandez's (shoulder) return from the 10-day disabled list Friday, Bergman will be dropped from the rotation to open up a spot for the former Cy Young Award winner. The Mariners called up Triple-A starter Andrew Moore in a corresponding move, but it's expected that he'll work in long relief initially. Bergman turned in three quality starts during his eight-start stint with the Mariners, but with nine- and 10-run blowups mixed in, he ended up submitting an ugly 5.70 ERA over that span.