Opponent: Texas Rangers
When: 12:05 p.m.
Where: The Ballpark at Arlington, Texas
TV: Fox Sports Net Seattle
Radio: KIRO (710 AM)
Probable starters pitchers: Seattle right-hander Paul Abbott (15-4, 4.17 earned run average) vs. right-hander Rob Bell (5-4, 7.06).
Juggling act: If you think getting a bullpen full of relief pitchers enough work to get and stay sharp after an unexpected seven-day lull is easy, you haven’t tried managing a major league club.
Everyone wants work, but on a different schedule than most everyone else. And pitchers accustomed to filling certain roles – and pitching in specific situations – can’t always be accommodated.
“It’s real tough for everyone,” Jeff Nelson said Tuesday. “Arthur (Rhodes) and I are used to working close games, and we haven’t had many of those lately. We’re either up by eight or down by five. If Lou (Piniella) waited for the right situation for each of us, some of us wouldn’t work once a week.”
Closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, for instance, hasn’t pitched in a save situation since Sept. 7 – because there haven’t been any since then.
“That’s why it’s seemed like spring training the past week,” manager Piniella said. “Our short people need work to be sharp, so we’ve had to use them in situations they’re not used to pitching in. We’ve had to try to get everyone sharp.”
That’s not simple.
Rhodes, for instance, likes working one or two games in a row, then getting two days off.
“You do that, you could pitch all season and stay strong without being too strong,” Rhodes said. “When I don’t work regularly and I get too strong, I try to overthrow.”
Rookie Ryan Franklin thrives on work, the more the better. When starting pitchers go deep into games and short men – Rhodes, Nelson and Jose Paniagua – get work, middle relievers often don’t.
“I’d like to work one, two days in a row, but it usually doesn’t work that way,” Franklin said. “The thing is, no one is used to seven days off in the middle of a season, so everyone had to start from scratch a little bit.
“The first time I pitched, I was too strong and couldn’t control my pitches. They were moving this far,” he said, holding his hands nearly a foot apart. “It got to the point where I tried to throw everything down the middle and it would break outside the zone.”
“It’s different for starting pitchers, because they’re going to be out there inning after inning, and if something isn’t right, they can correct it the next inning,” Nelson said. “For a reliever, you usually get an inning here, another there. It takes more time to get it back.”
“I think most of us are close now, and it’s only been a week since we’ve been playing again,” Rhodes said. “They’ve done a pretty good job getting everybody back, but that may be why we lost a few games, too.”
Close to singles record: Ichiro Suzuki didn’t take much time hitting in his 127th game of the season Tuesday, slapping a single up the middle on the second pitch of the game. The major league single-season record is 135 games.
Lou’s dilemma: Piniella was asked by Texas writers whether he would sit Suzuki during the final days of the season to protect his chances of winning a batting title – an issue because the No. 2 hitter in the league is Rangers outfielder Frank Catalanotto.
“I’d like to see Ichiro win that title,” Piniella replied.
Did that mean, the Texas writer persisted, that Piniella might take Suzuki out of games early?
“I’d like to see Ichiro win that title,” Piniella repeated.
Elite territory: Seattle has become one the top teams in major league history for wins in a season. With Tuesday’s victory, Seattle became the 11th team to have won 108 games or more in a season – and seven of them went on to win the World Series.
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