Today’s game
Opponent: Washington Nationals
When: 1:10 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: Fox Sports Net
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle left-hander Jarrod Washburn (2-7, 6.09 earned run average) vs. right-hander Tim Redding (6-3, 4.29).
Lowe unwinds
Mark Lowe clearly wasn’t himself during the Mariners’ last road trip, allowing six hits, two walks and five earned runs — with no strikeouts — in two outings.
Friday, in his two innings of perfect relief against the Nationals, Lowe wasn’t himself again. And that made all the difference.
Lowe has ditched his windup and will work only out of the stretch, and Friday’s performance offered proof that he had solved the problems he had last week in Boston and Toronto.
He struck out three in two innings, throwing his fastball, slider and changeup with precision.
“With the windup, it seemed like the first hitter was always getting on base either with a walk or a hit,” he said.
No outing this season was worse than the third of an inning he pitched June 7 in Boston, where he gave up four hits, a walk and five earned runs. He followed that two days later in Toronto with a hit and a walk without getting anyone out before he was pulled.
While in Toronto, Lowe watched video of himself from the 2006 and 2007 seasons and saw that his first step backward in the windup had gotten wider. In his recent outings, he noticed that he rocked back a little too much when he needed some extra oomph on his fastball, and that affected his control.
“I felt like my timing was good, but obviously it wasn’t,” he said. “My landing foot wasn’t getting down at the right time. I never had that problem out of the stretch.”
He talked about it with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, who suggested throwing every pitch out of the stretch.
“I make better pitches out of the stretch, so I’m using it all the time,” Lowe said.
Just make contact: The Mariners’ pitchers will start taking batting practice this week as they prepare for road interleague games in Atlanta and New York beginning this weekend. It’s an event — the batting practice, that is — that worries manager John McLaren.
“I just want them to get a bunt down,” he said. “That’s the most important thing. The only thing that scares me — and I’ve seen it happen — is guys taking batting practice and swinging too hard. They can hurt something. We’re just trying to stress to these guys that bunting is the most important thing. Just put your bat on the ball. It doesn’t make a difference how far it goes.”
Of note: Coaches had outfielder Jeremy Reed fielding balls at first base Saturday afternoon in case he might be needed during road interleague games. “We’re keeping all our options open and being ready for everything,” McLaren said. DH Jose Vidro also is a possibility at first base and, although he has experience at second base, McLaren said Vidro would play there only in an emergency. … McLaren repeated Saturday what he said Friday night, that R.A. Dickey would remain in the starting rotation despite allowing seven runs in 1 2/3 innings. McLaren wouldn’t say how many more starts he would give Dickey, who also is valuable as a long reliever. … Entering Saturday, the Mariners’ bullpen ERA dropped from 6.00 to 3.44 in a 44-game stretch. … The Mariners are the only team in the league to have at least one save from six different pitchers — J.J. Putz, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Miguel Batista, Jarrod Washburn, Brandon Morrow and Lowe.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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