No reason for concern: J.J. Putz wasn’t hurt in the ninth inning Friday night when his pitching coach and trainer sprinted to the mound to check on him. He was ticked.
“I’d thrown a couple of poor pitches and kind of hopped off the mound because I was mad, and I guess they thought I was hurt,” Putz said. “I didn’t even know they were coming out to the mound.”
Putz was rubbing up the baseball and walking back to the mound when umpire Lance Barksdale got his attention.
“The trainer is coming out,” Barksdale told him.
“Huh? Why?” Putz asked him.
When pitching coach Rafael Chavez and trainer Rick Griffin reached the mound, they started asking questions. “You all right?”
“Yeah,” Putz told them.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Then third baseman Adrian Beltre stepped in. “He says he’s OK,” Beltre said. “It’s getting cold, so let’s go.”
They left him in and Putz got the next three outs, including a game-ending double play.
Manager Mike Hargrove had feared Putz was hurt because his velocity to the first two hitters in the inning reached only 94 mph instead of his usual 97. There was a good reason.
Putz, who got the final two outs in the top of the eighth inning, sat through a long bottom of the eighth when the Mariners scored two runs and sent seven hitters to the plate.
“I couldn’t get loose,” Putz said. “I was sitting around a long time in the eighth and tried to hustle out to the mound before the ninth and get in a few extra warmup pitches.”
Barksdale wouldn’t allow it, and Putz struggled against the first two hitters. After convincing everyone he was OK, he dusted off the next two hitters, throwing 97 and 98 mph and finishing the game impressively.
Arms abound: It’s becoming clear that opposing baserunners should advance at their own risk against the Mariners’ outfielders. Not only does Ichiro Suzuki have a strong arm in center field, Jose Guillen has proven that nobody should mess with him in right. Guillen, who had Tommy John elbow surgery last July, made two laser-like throws Friday night after catching fly balls, and Royals runners wisely held their ground.
“If there were any questions about the health of his arm, he answered them with those two throws,” Hargrove said. “With him in right field and Ichiro in center, that’s a pretty potent combo as far as arm strength and accuracy.”
Mulling Morrow: Most of the bullpen roles are clearly defined, although the Mariners can use hard-throwing rookie Brandon Morrow in different ways. They can pitch him in long relief, setup and even close if Putz isn’t available.
“He closed for his college team (at Cal) before he became a starter,” Hargrove said. “I think he can be (solely) an eighth-inning guy, but I don’t necessarily think that’s what we want him to be. On an occasional basis I think he can do it.”
Of note: Felix Hernandez, on the disabled list with a strained right forearm, will pitch off the bullpen mound today and, if that goes well, stays on target to start Saturday in New York. Hernandez threw in the bullpen Friday for the first time since he left in the first inning on April 18 against the Twins. … George Sherrill entered Saturday’s game having allowed only one hit and a walk in 52/3 scoreless innings, a big turnaround from spring training when he had a 13.00 ERA. “For me that was a major concern,” Hargrove said. “He has struggled in the spring before, but it wasn’t this poor. This was burned-in-my-memory poor. But since the bell has rung, he has been effective.”
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
