One day after he was hit by a pitch and stumbled out of the batter’s box like a cowboy on an old Western who’d been shot, Mariners center fielder Ichiro Suzuki was back in the lineup Monday, at designated hitter.
Suzuki lobbied to play center field, but manager John McLaren wouldn’t go for it.
“I felt like with everything he’s been through in the last week, from the All-Star Game festivities to the contract negotiations, it was a good time to let him DH and catch his breath,” McLaren said.
Suzuki will return to center field tonight, McLaren said.
He was hit just above his right knee by a slider from Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander in the fifth inning of Sunday’s game. He stayed in the game for a few minutes but labored getting to second base on a wild pitch and McLaren took him out.
X-rays showed nothing was broken and that Suzuki had suffered a bruise.
“It was a scare for us, but he feels real good,” McLaren said. “It’s a big relief for us.”
McLaren is trying to rest all of his regulars, and he broached the idea of a full day off Monday with Suzuki.
“He said no,” McLaren said.
Suzuki prefers to DH instead of taking a complete day off, although McLaren said he’ll have scheduled days of rest in the coming weeks, especially mindful that the hottest weather of the season is coming and that players can wear down in August.
“We have a game plan for what we’re going to do with him the rest of the season,” McLaren said. “There are off days involved in front of an off day (for the team). We have a good understanding of where we’re going to go from here.”
Beltre moved up, Sexson down: With Adrian Beltre hitting the ball better than most players in the league and Richie Sexson continuing to struggle, McLaren flipped those two in the batting order Monday.
Beltre, with a .419 average in July, batted fifth while Sexson, who entered Monday batting .201, dropped one spot to sixth.
“I told Adrian that if he kept swinging the bat, he was moving up,” said McLaren, who has contemplated changes but was reluctant to make them because the Mariners had been winning.
“I told everybody here that when I took over, I didn’t want to do anything crazy,” McLaren said. “I wasn’t born yesterday. I wasn’t going to change something that was working. Now I’m starting to tweak it a little bit and see if we can find a better combination.”
Of note: Mark Lowe gave up two hits and a run in two-thirds of an inning Sunday in a rehab outing with Class AA West Tennessee. His fastball velocity was 88-91 mph, compared with 91-93 in his previous outing last week with Class AAA Tacoma, although McLaren wasn’t worried. “He’s building his arm strength and we’re letting him go at his own pace,” McLaren said. “His performance will let us know when he’s ready.” … As he predicted after Sunday’s game, McLaren met with the Mariners’ pitchers Monday to stress the importance of holding runners better. The Tigers stole five bases Sunday. … Entering Monday, the Mariners were tied with the Cubs with the major leagues’ best record, 25-13, since June 2.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
