Mariners rest Kendrys Morales, Mike Morse

Kendrys Morales and Mike Morse were both out of the Seattle Mariners' Wednesday lineup against the Houston Astros as they continue to battle what the team is characterizing as minor injuries. Manager Eric Wedge told Greg Johns of MLB.com that he's hoping yesterday's rest coupled with today's off-day will allow Morales and Morse to be ready for the team's upcoming seven-game road trip that begins Friday against the Oakland Athletics. "We've got a lot of guys that are dinged up right and it's probably for the fact we've had to run them out there," he said. "We've been thin and we've had guys that are limited, so we haven't been able to get guys days off over the course of this 20 like you'd like to see. It's just been such a grind. I've never been part of a grind like this for the first two and a half months. These players have really been up against it. And you know what, they don't complain. They show up ready to play, they understand responsibility. It'll come back to us, the toughness they've shown here." Morales sat out for the second straight game due to stiffness in his lower back. Morse was given the day off to rest his strained right quadriceps that has been troubling him for the past two weeks. Morse and Morales combine to largely make up the middle of the Mariners' batting order, so their absence is significant. Morse has 11 home runs on the season, while Morales has hit .292/.351/.465 with 18 doubles and eight bombs. Seattle is also without slugger Justin Smoak, as he continues to deal with injury. Follow @mlbinjurynews Looking for fantasy baseball advice?