Mariners Update

Opponent: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

When: 1:05 p.m.

Where: Safeco Field

TV: KSTW (Ch. 11)

Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)

Pitchers: Seattle right-hander Gil Meche (10-8, 5.12 earned run average) vs. right-hander John Lackey (10-4, 3.48).

The Spiezio line

Scott Spiezio has started the past two games, and he’s still trying to hit for the cycle – for the season.

Spiezio, with two hits all season (a double and a home run) and a batting average less than the price of a candy bar (.051 entering Saturday), is getting a chance to turn those numbers around.

He’s not doing much with it.

Spiezio went 0-for-3 Saturday and is batting .048. In his two starts this weekend, Spiezio hasn’t gotten a ball into the outfield, with two strikeouts and four popups.

Mariners manager Mike Hargrove has started Spiezio at designated hitter the past two games, since the knee injury to Chris Snelling forced him to juggle the lineup. Regular DH Raul Ibanez has started in left field.

Hargrove chose Spiezio, who had started just six other games this season, over rookie Mike Morse, who is batting .300 but lost his regular turn at shortstop when Yuniesky Betancourt arrived.

Why Spiezio?

“He has a lot to offer as a player and the only way to get him back is by giving him at-bats,” Hargrove said. “With Snelling down, the opportunity is there. I’ll need patience. It’s tough to adjust from being an everyday player to being a reserve.”

Out for the season: The Mariners’ injury bug has invaded the coaching staff, with third-base coach Jeff Newman finished for the season because of a torn Achilles’ tendon.

Newman’s left ankle had troubled him the past few weeks and an exam by Dr. Larry Pedegana, the Mariners’ medical director, showed the tendon was 60 percent torn. He will have surgery soon and miss the rest of the season, the Mariners said.

First-base coach Carlos Garcia took over the third-base coaching duties and will finish the season there. Mike Goff, the Mariners’ coordinator of minor league instruction, joined them Saturday and will finish the season as first-base coach.

Of note: Betancourt went 1-for-3 Saturday and is hitting .313 after four games of the homestand. … The Mariners have made five errors in the past four games. … The Angels have beaten the Mariners six straight times at Safeco Field and 13 of the past 16. … Edgar Martinez has been retired nearly a full season, but his image will be prominent at Safeco Field on Tuesday. That’s when kids 14 and younger who attend the game will receive a stuffed animal with Martinez’s face on “Ti-Gar Night.”

Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer