Guti’s gut still groaning; Saunders in center field again

The Mariners close their 10-game homestand this afternoon with another Gutierrez-free lineup.

Center fielder Franklin Gutierrez, who missed Saturday’s game because he had an upset stomach, is out again today against the Indians. Manager Daren Brown said that Gutierrez is feeling better today and may be available to pinch hit. Michael Saunders will start in center field.

We realized in the eighth inning Saturday night how sick Guti must have been. The Mariners had runners on second and third base with one out and left-handed-hitting Saunders due up against Indians lefty reliever Rafael Perez. It would have been a perfect opportunity for Brown to send up the right-handed-hitting Gutierrez, who’d had a nice homestand (.321 with thrree doubles and four RBI). Instead, Gutierrez remained in the clubhouse all night and, in the eighth, Saunders struck out.

“I asked if he would be available to pinch-hit (today), and he said he felt a lot better and it would be a possibility,” Brown said. “Hopefully we can give him a full day (off) today and … he’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

A few notes:

Brown was trying to connect the dots after he heard that Tacoma Rainiers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, a “purposeful” runner at 5 feet 11 inches and 220 pounds, had hit a triple in the Saturday night’s game at Fresno. “I’m trying to picture the Fresno ballpark to figure out how he did that,” Brown said.

Added Mariners pitcher, and former Rainier, Luke French: “The left fielder must have fallen down.”

Brown said pitching prospect Michael Pineda probably would remain with the Rainiers in order to have him experience the atmosphere of a division race and the playoffs. Pineda has been shut down for the season after reaching the innings limit the organization had set for him. The Mariners plan to eventually have Pineda spend part of September with the big-league club to become accustomed to the atmosphere of the big leagues and, they hope, make for an easier transition if he’s a part of the starting rotation next year.

The Class AA West Tennessee DiamondJaxx will play their Southern League Division Series this week without shortstop Carlos Triunfel. He went on the 7-day disabled list today because of a sprained finger on his right (throwing) hand. The DiamondJaxx will begin their best-of-five series against Tennessee on Thursday.

The Mariners’ Oct. 2 home game against the A’s will start at 7:10 p.m. The starting time had been listed as TBA on printed schedules.

Here are today’s lineups:

INDIANS

Michael Brantley, center field

Asdrubal Cabrera, shortstop

Shin-Soo Choo, right field

Travis Hafner, DH

Jayson Nix, third base

Jordan Brown, left field

Matt LaPorta, first base

Luis Valbuena, second base

Chris Gimenez, catcher

Right-hander Jeanmar Gomez (3-2, 3.08), a 22-year-old making his eighth major league start.

MARINERS

Ichiro Suzuki, right field

Chone Figgins, second base

Russell Branyan, DH

Jose Lopez, third base

Casey Kotchman, first base

Ryan Langerhans, left field

Adam Moore, catcher

Michael Saunders, center field

Josh Wilson, shortstop

Right-hander Felix Hernandez (10-10, 2.38), making his 30th start and needing to string together victories in order to help Cy Young Award voters take notice, even though he’s the league’s dominant pitcher in numerous statistical categories.