Opponent: Boston Red Sox
When: 1:05 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: KCPQ (Ch. 13)
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle right-hander Felix Hernandez (8-8, 4.99 earned run average) vs. left-hander Kason Gabbard (major league debut).
Center of attention
Adam Jones met another center field he’d never seen on Friday, this one among the biggest in the American League.
Jones, the Mariners’ 20-year-old rookie who switched from shortstop to center last October, was at Safeco Field long before batting practice working with coach Mike Goff.
Besides learning the nuances of Safeco, Jones focused on breaking back to the ball, which he struggled doing in his first few games on the road trip to Toronto and New York.
“The good ones, when the ball is hit, they put their heads down and run to a spot, then pick the ball back up,” Goff said. “We’re out here in the sun at 3 o’clock every day, and come game time he should have no problem taking his eye off the ball and then seeing it again.
“It’s not easy. You’ve got 35,000 here and you’re scared to death of making a mistake. The last thing you want to do is take your eyes off the ball. But to get there, you have to do that, especially in this ballpark as big as the gaps are.”
For a shortstop who is accustomed to charging balls hit at him, going back isn’t a natural move. Jeremy Reed, whose broken thumb is the reason Jones was called up from Class AAA Tacoma, knows it’s a big adjustment.
“He’s played the game a long time, but he’s never played the game at that position,” Reed said. “The reason the best players are getting Gold Gloves is because they’re able to go back on the ball and come in on the ball. He’ll get it. But learning at a crunch time like this is tough.”
Reed said the challenge is bigger mentally than physically.
“Sometimes staying ready is the hardest thing,” Reed said. “You have to be as mentally focused as you can every single pitch.”
Reed update: Reed, who won’t play until early September at the soonest, said his thumb had improved dramatically in the past four days.
“Four days ago, there was so much swelling that it felt like it was still in a cast,” said Reed, who’s wearing a soft cast.
He has begun exercising his hand, wrist and thumb, along with cardio work to keep the rest of his body in shape.
Family matters for Lopez: Second baseman Jose Lopez returned to his home in Venezuela after Wednesday’s game in New York to deal with a family situation. Manager Mike Hargrove said it wasn’t a serious matter and that Lopez would be back with the team on Sunday.
“It’s nothing bad but we felt he should have the time off,” Hargrove said.
Hair to dye for: The idle time that comes from rehabbing an injury got the best of Mike Morse this week.
Morse, recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, decided to apply some blonde highlights to his dark hair. He bought a home dye kit, applied the solution to his hair and made one slight error.
“I left it on while I watched a movie,” he said.
Two hours later, he pulled off the rubber cap and looked into a mirror, and what looked back at him was a 6-foor-4 Q-Tip.
Morse decided all black would be better than all blonde, so he got more dye and went through the process again to darken his hair. It worked with one exception. He missed a small strip, leaving a row of blonde hair at the back of his neck.
Of note: Reliever George Sherrill rolled an ankle but was fine after testing it during batting practice. … Glass artist Dale Chihuly threw the ceremonial first pitch before Friday’s game. Utility player Greg Dobbs caught the ball and, no, it didn’t turn into a glass globe before it reached the plate. … Look for Eduardo Perez to start at DH today with the Mariners facing a left-handed starting pitcher.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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