Opponent: Tampa Bay Devil Rays
When: 1:35 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: None
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle left-hander Jarrod Washburn (5-11, 4.47 earned run average) vs. right-hander James Shields (4-5, 5.28).
Fine-fielding slugger
Richie Sexson’s name isn’t likely to be mentioned among the best fielding first basemen in the game, but it’s right there at the top of the statistics.
Sexson’s .997 fielding percentage ties him for first in the American League with Paul Konerko of the White Sox, Travis Lee of the Devil Rays and Mark Teixeira of the Rangers.
Sexson, the 6-foot-8 veteran known mostly for his bat (or the struggles he’s had with it this year), wasn’t even aware of where he stood defensively. He entered Tuesday with three errors in 968 chances this season.
“I hope talking about it doesn’t jinx me like talking about a no-hitter,” he said. “But I’ve always tried not to be just a hitter. As up and down as I’ve been at the plate this year, if nothing else my defense has always been there. Maybe I’ve saved a couple of runs out there where I’ve lost a couple at the plate.”
Sexson saved a run – and possibly a victory – Monday night when he made a back-hand catch of shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt’s throw into the dirt in the sixth inning. The Devil Rays had runners on first and second with two outs and one of them would have scored if Sexson hadn’t caught Betancourt’s throw, which bounced about five feet in front of Sexson. The Mariners won by a run.
“It wasn’t as hard as it looked,” Sexson said. “In that situation, you just try to block it so in a worst-case scenario the run doesn’t score. That one was weird because it stayed down and didn’t really hop up. The hard ones are the balls that are about 3 feet from you and they come up. That ball landed so far away that I had time.”
Laying Lowe: Add rookie right-hander Mark Lowe to the list of tired and hurting relief pitchers.
Lowe, who hasn’t allowed a run in the 142/3 innings he has worked since being called up, has a sore elbow and hasn’t pitched since Saturday.
“It has been bothering him the last couple of days, but he should be available tomorrow or the next day,” manager Mike Hargrove said. “We think it’s a minor thing.”
Even minor things, however, are having a major impact on the bullpen these days.
Closer J.J. Putz, while not officially unavailable Tuesday, was all but on Hargrove’s don’t-use list after he’d thrown 58 pitches in the previous two days.
Hargrove said managing the bullpen is one of the most important parts of his job, and he understands when fans question why he doesn’t use a particular pitcher in what would be an obvious situation.
“If I’m a fan and I’m watching a game and there’s a situation where I say, ‘Geez, they ought to have Soriano in the game,’ I would wonder too,” Hargrove said. “They’re not wrong for thinking that, but if a guy threw yesterday and the day before that, you shouldn’t use him. If you want them to be good all year long, you have to give them rest. It’s a fine line you walk every day.”
Uh, just joking: Tuesday was Japan Night at Safeco Field, and Hargrove decided to have a little fun with the lineup at the expense of his two Japanese starters, catcher Kenji Johjima and right fielder Ichiro Suzuki.
The first lineup posted in the clubhouse Tuesday afternoon didn’t include both players.
“We told them we figured they’d want the day off since it was Japan Day,” Hargrove said.
The reaction of Johjima and Suzuki?
“I think they thought it was funny,” Hargrove said.
Of note: Ten years ago Tuesday, the Mariners became the first sports franchise to use the internet to sell tickets. Ticketmaster.com began in August of 1996 in Seattle and the first online ticket was sold to Carl Ward of Tumwater on Aug. 8 for the game Aug. 9.
Kirby Arnold, Herald writer
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