Mariner notes
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, August 6, 2006
Opponent: Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
When: 7:05 p.m. today and Tuesday, 1:35 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: Safeco Field.
TV: Fox Sports Net (cable) today and Tuesday. No TV on Wednesday.
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM) all three games.
Pitchers: Today – Seattle left-hander Jamie Moyer (6-10, 4.15 earned run average) vs. right-hander Tim Cocoran (4-2, 3.54). Tuesday – Right-hander Felix Hernandez (10-9, 4.49) vs. right-hander Jae Seo (1-5, 5.23). Wednesday – Left-hander Jarrod Washburn (5-11, 4.47) vs. right-hander James Shields (4-5, 5.28).
High five
The Mariners are the only team in the major leagues to have gone this far into the season with the same five starting pitchers, and manager Mike Hargrove credits it more to durability than luck.
“Our guys have been durable, but we also have kept their pitch counts down and that has helped,” Hargrove said. “Our bullpen, as well as it has pitched, has allowed us to do that.
“It’s a very rare occurrence when this happens, but we’ve got a lot of baseball to be played. I hope I can answer that question in September.”
Complete pen: Rafael Soriano’s return to the mound after a stint on the disabled list was a comfort to Hargrove, who now has another hard-throwing right-hander for the late innings.
“It makes the back end of the bullpen deeper,” Hargrove said.
Soriano got two quick outs in the ninth inning but walked the next two batters before recording the final out.
“He kind of lost his release point and threw a lot of pitches,” Hargrove said. But after being off 15 days, that is fairly typical.”
Of note: When the Mariners scored twice in the first inning Sunday, it gave them their first lead over the A’s in 26 innings. The last time was the second inning on June 16. … The Mariners were swept for the seventh time this season, the third against the A’s. … In a division where no team has gone on a serious run to stretch a tight race from top to bottom, the A’s could be in the beginning of one. They have won nine of their past 11 games and seven of eight.
Kirby Arnold, Herald writer
