Sore shoulder sidelines Seattle's Iwakuma

Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma was placed on Major League Baseball's 10-day disabled list Wednesday with right shoulder inflammation, joining three other sidelined starters for the American League club.

The 36-year-old right-hander, who spent 11 seasons playing in Japan before signing with the Mariners in 2012, is 0-2 with a 4.35 earned-run average in six starts this year for the Mariners, who made the move retroactive to May 4.

Also out from the Mariners' rotation of hurlers are Felix Hernandez with a right shoulder injury, Drew Smyly with a flexor tendon strain in his left elbow and left-hander James Paxton with a left forearm strain.

The only member of the opening-day rotation remaining on the active roster is Mexican right-hander Yovani Gallardo.

Iwakuma won the 2008 Sawamura Award as Most Valuable Player while with Japan's Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and in 2009 helped Japan capture a second consecutive World Baseball Classic crown.

At 16-17, the Mariners are six games back of the pace-setting Houston Astros in the AL West division.

The Mariners have not reached the Major League Baseball playoffs since 2001, when Japanese star Ichiro Suzuki was the AL Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year.