Opponent: Baltimore Orioles
When: 6:05 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: Fox Sports Net (cable)
Radio: KIRO (710 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle right-hander Rafael Soriano (0-0, 0.00 ERA, making his first career start) vs. right-hander Travis Driskill (1-0, 3.18, making his first career start).
The Mariners couldn’t wait any longer for Edgar Martinez’s injured left leg to get back into shape, and they did something about it after Friday’s game.
The Mariners transferred Martinez to the 60-day disabled list and called up outfielder Chris Snelling from their Class AA farm club in San Antonio. Rookie pitcher Justin Kaye was optioned to Class AAA Tacoma to make room for Snelling on the 25-man roster.
Martinez is eligible to come off the 60-day DL on June 10, although it has become apparent he will need more time than that.
“This gives Edgar more time and ensures that he doesn’t have to rush and hurt himself,” Mariners manager Lou Piniella said.
That already has happened once, when Martinez felt a sharp pain behind his left knee two weeks ago after what had seemed like a smooth recovery from April 13 surgery. Martinez ruptured the tendon on April 11 and was placed on the 15-day DL the next day.
Early this week, the Mariners had thought Martinez was just days away from rejoining the team. He was to run hard around the bases on Thursday and play in some minor league games this weekend in Arizona before being activated next week.
Martinez never got to the first step – running the bases – because he continued to feel discomfort in his leg.
“He’s really been pushing himself to come back, and he already had one reoccurrence,” Piniella said. “Now he can take it nice and slow and know that when he comes back, he can let it go.
“If you try to rush it and re-injure it, it’s over.”
Snelling, a 20-year-old who has impressed Piniella the last two years at spring training, will play left field and help give the Mariners more versatility with the lineup.
He will allow Piniella to rotate versatile Mark McLemore around a variety of positions and give the regulars more time off, especially some slumping hitters who need more than one day off to clear their heads.
Snelling has played impressively at San Antonio since returning from a broken thumb. In 22 games, Snelling was batting .337 with one home run, nine doubles, two triples, 12 RBI and five stolen bases in six attempts.
Martinez is believed to have undergone a magnetic resonance imaging exam on Thursday, although trainer Rick Griffin would not confirm it. If he did have the MRI, results apparently were encouraging because Martinez was on the field stretching and taking batting practice Friday, as he has for the past few weeks.
The Mariners believe there’s no further injury to Martinez, outside of the fact he needs more time to recover.
“Until he’s able to accelerate and run more comfortably, then he just can’t go to the next level,” Griffin said. “There’s a lot of levels you’ve got to go through and the most important is running pain-free.”
Placing Martinez on the 60-day DL means he doesn’t count against the 40-man roster. That allowed the Mariners to call up Snelling without having to cut another player.
First-timer’s night: Tonight’s game will match two pitchers who’ll make their first career major league starts.
Mariners right-hander Rafael Soriano hasn’t allowed an earned run in five innings of relief since he was called up from Class AA San Antonio. Orioles righty Travis Driskell is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in 11 1/3 innings of relief since coming from Class AAA Rochester on April 25.
See the ball, hit the shadow: Here is Ruben Sierra’s theory on hitting in day games, during which he leads the league with a .514 average: “I try to see the ball before it gets darker, before the shadow.”
Perry gone: Mariners hitting coach Gerald Perry isn’t with the team during this weekend’s series, having returned home to Georgia for his daughter’s graduation. He’ll rejoin the team in Tampa on Tuesday.
Kirby Arnold
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