On Erik Bedard Comeback Night, Sweeney lands on DL
Tuesday, July 7, 2009 | 3:08 pm
Well, we now know whose place on the roster Erik Bedard will take when he comes off the disabled list and pitches tonight for the Mariners. The Mariners made the move a few minutes ago, activating Bedard while placing DH Mike Sweeney on the disabled list because of back spasms.
It leaves the Mariners with an interesting roster, 13 pitchers and 12 position players, for tonight's game against the Orioles. With Bedard being limited to 75-80 pitches and the extreme likelihood we'll see the bullpen in play early and often tonight, a deeper pen is no surprise.
Just guessing here, however, that we'll see another roster move tomorrow. Not only are 13 pitchers an uncommon luxury, it's fairly unnecessary because the Mariners won't need a fifth starter until late this month, with the All-Star break and off days. The organization was thinking Monday -- knowing that conditions could change -- that Garrett Olson, who has started in Bedard's place, would go down. That could still happen, but not tonight.
Sweeney came out of Sunday's game in Boston because of the back spasms and didn't play Monday. His condition then was said to be day-to-day. Now he won't be back until after the all-Star break.
The Mariners will operate with a three-man bench tonight: catcher Kenji Johjima, infielder Josh Wilson and outfielder Wladimir Balentien. Yes, Johjima is on the bench a second straight game after Johnson drew more raves from starter Jarrod Washburn last night for the way he handled the game. We'll see how that situation develops.
Here are tonight's lineups:
ORIOLES
Adam Jones, center fielder
Nick Markakis, right field
Ty Wigginton, second base
Aubrey Huff, first base
Nolan Reimold, left field
Luke Scott, DH
Melvin Mora, third base
Matt Wieters, catcher
Robert Andino, shortstop
Right-hander Jeremy Guthrie (6-8, 5.20), starting pitcher
MARINERS
Ichiro Suzuki, right field
Russell Branyan, first base
Jose Lopez, second base
Ken Griffey Jr., DH
Franklin Gutierrez, center field
Ryan Langerhans, left field
Rob Johnson, catcher
Chris Woodward, third base
Ronny Cedeno, shortstop
Left-hander Erik Bedard (5-2, 2.47), starting pitcher
It leaves the Mariners with an interesting roster, 13 pitchers and 12 position players, for tonight's game against the Orioles. With Bedard being limited to 75-80 pitches and the extreme likelihood we'll see the bullpen in play early and often tonight, a deeper pen is no surprise.
Just guessing here, however, that we'll see another roster move tomorrow. Not only are 13 pitchers an uncommon luxury, it's fairly unnecessary because the Mariners won't need a fifth starter until late this month, with the All-Star break and off days. The organization was thinking Monday -- knowing that conditions could change -- that Garrett Olson, who has started in Bedard's place, would go down. That could still happen, but not tonight.
Sweeney came out of Sunday's game in Boston because of the back spasms and didn't play Monday. His condition then was said to be day-to-day. Now he won't be back until after the all-Star break.
The Mariners will operate with a three-man bench tonight: catcher Kenji Johjima, infielder Josh Wilson and outfielder Wladimir Balentien. Yes, Johjima is on the bench a second straight game after Johnson drew more raves from starter Jarrod Washburn last night for the way he handled the game. We'll see how that situation develops.
Here are tonight's lineups:
ORIOLES
Adam Jones, center fielder
Nick Markakis, right field
Ty Wigginton, second base
Aubrey Huff, first base
Nolan Reimold, left field
Luke Scott, DH
Melvin Mora, third base
Matt Wieters, catcher
Robert Andino, shortstop
Right-hander Jeremy Guthrie (6-8, 5.20), starting pitcher
MARINERS
Ichiro Suzuki, right field
Russell Branyan, first base
Jose Lopez, second base
Ken Griffey Jr., DH
Franklin Gutierrez, center field
Ryan Langerhans, left field
Rob Johnson, catcher
Chris Woodward, third base
Ronny Cedeno, shortstop
Left-hander Erik Bedard (5-2, 2.47), starting pitcher
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