Lou: ‘We’re not changing’

By Kirby Arnold and Scott M. Johnson

Herald Writers

SEATTLE — Imagine this scenario.

The Seattle Mariners are behind 3-1 in their series against the Yankees with a crucial Game 5 in New York on Monday. The Mariners decide to alter their original pitching rotation, and off the bench comes a left-handed pitcher, John Halama, who has given the Yankees fits in his young career.

Nice thought, but it might as well be a dream sequence. Halama won’t start in this series regardless of his past success against the Yankees.

"We’re not changing," manager Lou Piniella said Thursday. "We’ll go Moyer, Abbott, Sele and Moyer all the way to the end. Even if it goes five games, we’re not changing."

Halama pitched twice against the Yankees last year in the ALCS and handled them well. He gave up only three runs in two starts, although a lack of run support rendered two no-decisions.

That, plus a late-season surge by the left-hander, wasn’t enough to convince Mariners decision-makers to give Halama a start in this series, even though the Yankee lineup is dominated by left-handed hitters.

"His name came up," pitching coach Bryan Price admitted. "I think he’ll be very effective in this series, but I think it will be in the bullpen."

Guillen takes a rest: As expected, shortstop Carlos Guillen did not play Thursday, one day after he returned to the Mariners’ lineup following treatment for tuberculosis.

Piniella wouldn’t say when Guillen, a switch hitter, would start again. His next opportunity will be Saturday against right-hander Orlando Hernandez.

"He needs some time to get stronger," Piniella said. "Guillen is 1-for-8 off El Duque, I know that. But we’ll see what we do. I’ll get out the Ouija Board."

Trainer Rick Griffin said Guillen felt fine when he arrived at the ballpark Thursday.

"He could play if he had to," Griffin said. "He felt good after the game and he came in today feeling good when we checked him over."

Griffin said it’s obvious Guillen doesn’t have his usual quickness with the bat or in the field.

"I don’t think he’s got it back yet," he said. "But I think he did a lot better than a lot of people thought he would do."

Mac is back: Mark McLemore, who replaced Guillen after he was diagnosed with TB on Sept. 28, started Thursday’s game at shortstop and may be in the lineup the rest of this series, Piniella said. McLemore played all of the Cleveland series at shortstop.

"He did a heck of a job for us," Piniella said. "I don’t know what we’re going to do, but I plan on playing McLemore. He’ll be in the lineup somewhere."

Number crunching: Fans who try to analyze every one of Piniella’s moves may be surprised to find out how simple he makes it.

"I like data," Piniella said before Thursday’s game. "The more data I have, the more I like it. Then you add the human element."

Piniella said he relies on batter-pitcher matchups anytime there’s a decision to be made regarding the batting order.

"Hunches are 50-50," he said. "I believe in percentages.

"I don’t manage with hunches, and I don’t have doghouses," he added. "Those are the two things I can tell you."

Bronx cheers: After 11 years as a Yankee, Piniella knows what to expect from the New York crowd this weekend.

"Yankee Stadium gets very loud," Piniella said. "They’ve got 10,000 more people there (than Safeco Field). And they’ve got a few more bars around the neighborhood."

Lampkin may start Saturday: Catcher Dan Wilson is one of seven players who have started every game for the Mariners this postseason, but that may change Saturday.

Wilson entered Thursday’s game with a .167 batting average, and Piniella said he may start left-handed hitter Tom Lampkin at catcher against Orlando Hernandez in Game 3.

Piniella considered a Game 2 start for Lampkin, who has two hits in four career at-bats against Mike Mussina, but starting pitcher Freddy Garcia is more comfortable with Wilson behind the plate.

Hope for Sunday: Anybody who thinks the Mariners don’t have a chance in the Paul Abbott-vs.-Roger Clemens matchup in Game 4 Sunday hasn’t been in Price’s position the past few days.

The Mariners’ pitching coach says Abbott, who was pummeled for eight runs in the 17-2 loss at Cleveland on Saturday, hasn’t been the same pitcher in his last two bullpen sessions.

On Thursday, Price was absolutely giddy after Abbott threw.

"His stuff is like it was in the middle of the year," Price said.

Abbott, a career-high 17-4 this season, is 1-4 with a 7.88 ERA against the Yankees in his career but has the repertoire of pitches to be effective against them.

When he can mix his low 90-mph fastball with a changeup that dives in different directions, Abbott has had success against teams that feature a lot of left-handed hitting. When he doesn’t have his best stuff, especially the changeup, Abbott has struggled.

Price says he has seen the "good Abbott" ever since the nightmare in Cleveland.

"He had a nice bullpen today and I anticipate he will perform well on Sunday," Price said.

Put a lid on it: For the first time in five postseason games, the Safeco Field roof rolled shut Thursday.

Both teams took batting practice with the roof open and the sky was overcast but not producing rain, but major league baseball officials decided to roll the roof shut about 40 minutes before gametime.

"One, the weather is all around us," said Mariners president Chuck Armstrong, who is responsible for roof decisions during the season but not in the ALCS. "Two, by closing it, it cuts down on the chill on the fans. We’ve found that closing the roof adds five to seven degrees to the temperature inside the stadium.

"Three, it’s not a nice sunny day like we’ve had up to now.

"And four, TV wanted it."

Around the horn: Ichiro Suzuki’s 1-for-3 performance Thursday gives him 14 hits this postseason. He’s chasing Derek Jeter’s record for playoff hits by a rookie (22 in 15 games in 1996). Suzuki has hit safely in all seven postseason games, after doing so in 135 games during the regular season. … Bernie Williams’ third-inning error was his first in 73 postseason games. … The Yankees’ Joe Torre managed his 24th ALCS game Thursday, moving ahead of Tony LaRussa, who managed 23 ALCS games with the Chicago White Sox and Oakland. … It wasn’t surprising to see the Yankees score first in Thursday’s game. They’ve done it in 42 of 68 postseason games since 1996. They’re 37-5 in those games.