Mariners: No Leaks at Safeco

Even at $517.6 million, major league baseball’s most expensive stadium isn’t perfect.

On Friday night, when the retractable roof on Safeco Field in Seattle was closed because it was raining, the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres complained that the roof wasn’t waterproof.

Water dripped into right field and near second base on the dirt part of the infield.

Officials said two of the three panels that make up the 11,000-ton roof weren’t aligned right by a computer.

“The roof does not leak,” Rebecca Hale, the Mariners’ director of public information, said Saturday. “It’s not a major thing. We’re still adjusting.

“The second and third panels were not overlapped as they should be last night. We had a little water coming in, but it wasn’t a leak.”

*

John Smoltz pitched two more pain-free innings for the Atlanta Braves’ double-A Greenville affiliate, then pronounced himself ready to rejoin the major league team. He struck out three and walked one. More importantly, Smoltz said there was no pain in the right elbow that has bothered him off and on for more than two years. . . . Relief pitcher Matt Karchner of the Chicago Cubs was put on the 15-day disabled list because of a right groin strain he suffered Friday. Also, backup catcher Sandy Martinez cleared waivers and was sent outright to triple-A Iowa. . . . Whitlow Wyatt, a star pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers and former manager of a championship Atlanta Crackers minor league team, died Friday at 91 in Buchanan, Ga.