Opponent: New York Yankees
When: 1:05 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: KCPQ (channel 13)
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle left-hander Jamie Moyer (6-8, 4.46 earned run average) vs. right-hander Esteban Loaiza (9-6, 5.01).
Hail to the slugger
Edgar Martinez met George Bush on Friday at Boeing Field in Seattle, and the President had plenty to tell the Mariners’ retiring designated hitter.
“He congratulated me on my retirement and he said something about how I’ve killed the Texas Rangers through the years,” Martinez said. “It was very cool, very special.”
Bush is a little more intimate than most presidents with the pain Martinez inflicted on opposing teams. From 1989-94, Bush was the Rangers’ managing general partner.
“He also said something about Texas going through the same old pitching problems again this year,” Martinez said. “It looks like he keeps up with it.”
Martinez said the two spoke for two or three minutes before the President left for a fundraiser Friday night in Bellevue.
“It was short. But I got the chance to say a few words and take a picture with him,” Martinez said. “And I got a baseball signed by him.”
Did Bush ask for an autograph in return?
“No, but I gave him one,” Martinez said.
It wasn’t Martinez’s first presidential encounter. He also met George Bush Sr. in 1992 at the All-Star Game in San Diego.
Alex out: Mariners fans couldn’t cheer John Olerud because he wasn’t in the starting lineup Friday, and they also missed a chance to jeer Alex Rodriguez.
The former Mariner, who has drawn boos every time he has returned to Safeco Field, was sick with a viral infection and scratched from the lineup. Miguel Cairo started in his place at third base.
Rodriguez was to be examined by a doctor Friday night to determine his playing status the rest of the weekend.
Doctor’s appointments: Pitchers Eddie Guardado and Rafael Soriano will get their second opinions on Monday in Los Angeles when they are examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum. Guardado has a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder and Soriano a torn ligament in his right elbow, and the Mariners’ medical staff has recommended surgery for both.
Attendance milestone: The Mariners will top 50 million in all-time home attendance tonight in the 2,164th game since April 6, 1977. The Mariners also passed 2 million in home attendance Friday for the ninth straight season.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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