Opponent: Baltimore Orioles
When: 1:05 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: Fox Sports Net
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle right-hander Gil Meche (9-6, 4.85 earned run average) vs. right-hander Sidney Ponson (7-7, 5.93).
Sitting the hot bat
Chris Snelling was one of the hottest hitters in all of professional baseball when the Mariners called him up on July 3. He was batting .363 for the Tacoma Rainiers with seven home runs and 40 RBI in 57 games.
However, when utility player Dave Hansen went on the disabled list because of tendinitis in his left elbow, Snelling replaced not only his roster spot, but his idle time as well.
The Mariners called up Snelling, even though left-handed-hitting Greg Dobbs also was at Tacoma and had filled the utility role for the M’s early in the season.
Snelling has started just two games and gotten just five at-bats since he came up. He was out of the lineup again Saturday against Orioles left-hander Bruce Chen, even though left-handed hitters were batting .400 against Chen.
“He hasn’t played as much as I would have liked, but probably as much as I had envisioned when he came here,” manager Mike Hargrove said.
Hansen is scheduled to come off the disabled list for Tuesday’s game at Toronto, and Snelling is considered the likely choice to return to Tacoma.
Stuff, not control: Hargrove said Joel Pineiro’s pitches were sharp Friday in his 6-3 loss to the Orioles, but his inability to throw strikes early in the game cost him.
“His first 50 pitches, he threw 25 balls and 25 strikes,” Hargrove said. “We felt Joel was trying to be a little too fine and a little too perfect instead of trusting his stuff.”
Pineiro threw 47 pitches in the first two innings, when the Orioles took a 3-0 lead, and he was done after five innings and 98 pitches.
The loss was a return to Pineiro’s earlier struggles, when he went winless in 11 straight starts before pitching a complete game against the Angels on the last road trip. Hargrove said there’s no magic fix, except for Pineiro to keep working.
Kirby Arnold, Herald writer
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