Yuniesky Betancourt was in Tacoma, Wash., on Thursday night, ready for his second injury rehabilitation start, this one at shortstop.

He was at second base for five innings Wednesday.

But he never made it to shortstop. About 15 minutes before the Class AAA game, he was pulled from the lineup in what was termed "an organizational decision."

There has been speculation much of this season that the Mariners are looking to trade the man who had been their starting shortstop since the middle of the 2005 season.

He's on the disabled list at the moment, but he appears to have recovered from the hamstring injury that has sidelined him for two weeks. He was eligible to come off the DL on Thursday, and before the Mariners' game, manager Don Wakamatsu said there was a chance he would be activated sometime this weekend.

But the fact that he was scratched leads to speculation that something else might be in Betancourt's future.

A source in the clubhouse said, "It's not a problem with his health."

MARINERS 3, RANGERS 1: CF Franklin Gutierrez, who had singled earlier to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games, hammered a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, lifting Seattle to a win.

The Mariners had lost all five games they'd played against the Rangers before Thursday, and they were on the verge of going down again before RF Ichiro Suzuki doubled off LHP C.J. Wilson to open the eighth.

Two outs later, Suzuki was still at second base, but DH Ken Griffey Jr. worked Wilson for a walk on a 3-2 pitch, and Gutierrez followed with his 10th homer of the season.

RHP Felix Hernandez (9-3) was in command for every inning save the sixth, when a two-out walk by 2B Ian Kinsler and a subsequent single by 3B Michael Young set up a double steal. With CF Josh Hamilton at the plate, Hernandez bounced a wild pitch past C Rob Johnson to give the Rangers their run.

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