Mariners Update

Opponent: Anaheim Angels

When: 7:05 p.m.

Where: Safeco Field

TV: Fox Sports Net (cable)

Radio: KIRO (710 AM)

Pitchers: Seattle left-hander Jamie Moyer (17-5, 3.35 earned run average) vs. left-hander Scott Schoeneweis (10-9, 5.10).

NOTES

Oh the pain: David Bell says the rib injury that he suffered over the weekend only hurts when he laughs, sneezes or takes a deep breath. That’s why swinging a bat may be next to impossible for the Mariners’ third baseman over the next week to 10 days.

Bell strained a muscle on his first swing in batting practice during the Mariners’ workout on Friday, their first day back after three days off because of the East Coast terrorist attacks. He took Saturday off, then hurt it again swinging a bat on Sunday.

Bell said he had stretched and warmed up before Friday’s batting practice as he always has, but believes the layoff was a factor.

“That’s the only think I can think,” Bell said. “It’s my fault. I should have taken some extra time to get it loose. Sometimes you take it for granted.”

And now the smallest task will make it hurt.

“I’ll do a little thing like cough or sneeze and that’ll grab it,” Bell said. “I’ve heard some bad things about this injury. I asked around the clubhouse and I’ve heard them say two or three weeks. I don’t think this is that bad. I’m still hoping four or five days.”

Manager Lou Piniella is thinking a week to 10 days.

“Hopefully it’s not longer than that,” Piniella said. “You’ve got to be careful with these things because a strain can become a pull real quick. A pull is usually a month. We’re going to shut him down as much as we can and let him get his treatments and get well.”

Words from the skipper: Piniella rarely gives a speech to his team, but he addressed the players Monday to talk about the resumption of the season.

“I told them that we need to get back to work, that it’s part of the process of getting this country back to normalcy,” Piniella said. “It’s difficult on everybody, but we’ve got a job to do like everybody else does.

“It won’t be easy, but it certainly wasn’t easy for the Wall Street workers to go back to work after they lost so many of their friends.”

Sellout city: All nine of the Mariners’ remaining regular-season home games are sold out.

That doesn’t mean a person has no hope of getting into a game. Some tickets occasionally become available prior to games, and the Mariners say fans should check on availability at the Safeco Field ticket windows, at the Mariners’ team stores, by calling Ticketmaster (206-622-HITS) or checking online at www.seattlemariners.com.

Waiting on the schedule: Baseball officials haven’t announced whether the postseason schedule will be altered because the season has been extended a week.

Piniella said there’s a chance an off-day or two could be eliminated from the best-of-five first-round series. It’s an important factor in how the Mariners set up their pitching rotation for the first round and when they make their final regular-season starts.

“What we’d like to do is give every one of our starters an extra day so they’ll pitch (in the playoffs) on their sixth day,” Piniella said.

Kirby Arnold