ARLINGTON, Texas » For the second straight year, Brandon League battled through a rough May. But the major difference between his 2011 struggles and his current woes is last year he didn’t lose his job as Seattle’s closer.

For the season, the Honolulu product is 0-4 with a 4.12 ERA in 24 games. He has converted nine of 13 save opportunities, but it was his blown save in a May 25 loss to the Angels that prompted Mariners manager Eric Wedge to remove him as closer for the time being.

Monday in Texas, League made his first appearance since losing his closing job. He faced three batters, allowed one hit and needed just 11 pitches to finish the inning.

"I thought it was good to get him out there. I thought he did OK," Wedge said. "There are a couple of different things that he’s going to work on. To have the opportunity to go out there in non-save situations is going to help him. At some point in time, we’ll let him stay out there for a couple innings. That’ll be healthy for him, to let him pitch a little bit."

Overall, the 2011 American League All-Star was pleased with how he performed in Arlington.

"Felt good, the ball had consistent movement that I’m going for and also gave me a chance to throw all my pitches," League said.

Some have speculated that the main culprit in his 0-4 record and four blown saves has been that his split-finger fastball, typically one of his better pitches, hasn’t been nearly as effective as in the past. However, his manager begs to differ.

"When you look at Brandon’s stuff, he’s most definitely not a one-pitch pitcher. He has other weapons," Wedge said. "I just think he needs to continue to utilize all of his pitches like most people do."

And League concurs his issues haven’t been confined to just one pitch.

"It’s not just my splitter. It’s all my pitches — my fastball, my slider and my split have been inconsistent," he said.

However, if there is one thing to note about his current struggles it’s that he battled back from a similar experience last May, when he went 0-4 with three blown saves and a 6.92 ERA. In June of last year, the Seattle reliever converted all six save opportunities and had an ERA of 0.00. He also converted three of four save opportunities last July, went 1-0 and had a 1.29 ERA, a big reason why he was an All-Star for the first time in his career.

"Right, last year I had a tough May. This year I had a tough May," League said. "Being who I am, which is staying positive, you just have to believe that you’re going to come out on top because you’re approaching it the right way, staying positive and keep working, keep grinding."

But where his May 2011 struggles were more tempo-related, his current issues are more related to overall inconsistency.

"It’s definitely different," League said. "I’m not doing the same thing I did last year. Last year was just more of a like a tempo thing with my delivery. This year, it’s just the consistency of the break of the pitch. Sometimes my fastball’s flat, sometimes it sinks. I just need to get consistent."

And even though his current issues aren’t exactly the same as they were in 2011, a similar course of action is called for to help ensure he returns to top form.

"It was a combination of things — looking at video, working on what I need to work on during catch, throwing extra bullpen sessions and taking that into games and trusting it in games, just believing that what I’m doing and preparing for is helping," League said.