Today’s game
Opponent: Oakland Athletics
When: 7:10 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: Fox Sports Net
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle left-hander Jarrod Washburn (5-13, 4.95 earned run average) vs. left-hander Dana Eveland (7-8, 4.46).
Rare feeling at first
Jeremy Reed played an inning at first base Thursday night for the first time since he was a college sophomore, and he said it felt like he hadn’t been there in years.
“There were some nerves, that’s for sure,” said Reed, an outfielder his entire pro career until manager Jim Riggleman had him play first in the ninth inning against the A’s. “Every situation was going through my mind again, trying to think of what I did over there. Footwork is so key over there.”
Footwork was the main reason he was charged with an error on a low throw to second base after M’s pitcher Cesar Jimenez had picked Eric Patterson off first base.
“I probably could have gained one more step toward the pitcher if I had started with my right foot as opposed to my left,” Reed said. “If I had gotten a little closer to the mound I would have had a better angle to throw. But stuff like that doesn’t cross your mind until you’re in the situation.”
After all, it had been a while. The last time was in 2000 when he took throws at first from his Long Beach State teammates, including current A’s shortstop Bobby Crosby.
“I got comfortable over there,” he said. “I enjoyed making those kinds of plays, picking balls for guys.”
Even though he’d been fielding balls at first base during batting practice recently, Reed said everything felt foreign to him Thursday night. Even the first baseman’s mitt.
“I almost took my outfield glove out there because it feels more comfortable,” he said. “That glove feels like a part of my hand.”
It’s doubtful Reed would see anything but emergency duty at first, but he’d do it if it meant helping the team.
“I would put every effort into it,” he said. “My mentality as a baseball player is whatever you ask me to do, I’ll do it. If they ran out of infielders and they needed somebody in a pinch to play third, I would do it.”
That would be a dire circumstance because Reed is left-handed.
Next month for Morrow: Based on his current schedule, Brandon Morrow could be ready to rejoin the Mariners as a starting pitcher Aug. 31. Manager Jim Riggleman said it’s more likely that Morrow would return to the M’s in early September.
Morrow, who pitched Thursday for Class AAA Tacoma in the fourth start of his conversion from reliever to starter, will make at least one more start with the Rainiers, on Tuesday.
“The next one after that would be the 31st, which means you’d have to make a roster move,” Riggleman said. “If you wait one more day (when rosters expand), you don’t have to make a roster move. Whether he gets that other performance down there or up here remains to be determined, but I don’t think we’ll see him here before the first.”
Even if he makes two more starts for the Rainiers, there would be plenty of time for him to start five times with the Mariners in September.
On Thursday, Morrow gave up two hits and two runs in 42/3 innings at Portland. He threw 72 pitches and struck out 10.
Betancourt bats second: Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt batted second Friday night for the first time this season, and Riggleman wouldn’t say if it was a one-time thing or a preview of his future plans.
The Mariners’ seven straight losses entering the game was one factor.
“When you lose seven games in a row and just run the same (lineup) out there every day, you feel like you’ve got to have a little different look,” Riggleman said. “It’s not sitting anybody down, just moving them around a little bit.”
He batted Adrian Beltre third and moved Raul Ibanez, the team’s hottest hitter, down to fourth.
“The danger of it is I don’t want to mess with Raul,” Riggleman said. But he’s such a pro that wherever he hits, he’s going to give it his best effort.”
Raul The Great: Like fuel to a race car, Ibanez entered Friday as the key to the Mariners’ offense this season. He’d been responsible in some way for 25 percent of the runs scored by the Mariners, the best percentage in the American League.
Combining his 64 runs and 87 RBI and subtracting his 20 homers, Ibanez had accounted for 131 of the Mariners’ 524 runs, putting him ahead of the Twins’ Justin Morneau (156 of 643) and the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton (167 of 714)
Of note: Injured pitcher Erik Bedard returned to his throwing program Friday, making 40 throws from 75-80 feet, after taking four days off because of discomfort in his left shoulder. The Mariners weren’t sure when he would throw again. “There’s going to be some good days and some bad days,” Riggleman said. “Today was a good day.” … With the Boeing Classic at nearby Snoqualmie Ridge, several PGA Champions Tour golfers have been watching the M’s and A’s this week. Mark O’Meara attended Thursday’s game and the group Friday included Ken Green, Tom McKnight, Mike Reid and recent British Senior Open champion Bruce Vaughan. Scott Simpson, the 1987 U.S. Open champion, is expected to watch tonight’s game.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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