Opponent: New York Yankees
When: 1:35 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: Fox Sports Net (cable)
Radio: KIRO (710 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle right-hander Aaron Sele (5-0, 2.92) vs. Roger Clemens (4-0, 3.77)
Dazed and confused: Seattle Mariners bench coach John McLaren poked his head between a couple of reporters and held up three fingers.
“What do you see?” McLaren asked Al Martin.
“I see that you’re still ugly,” Martin replied.
Four hours after Martin’s head turned up the loser in a collision with shortstop Carlos Guillen’s right knee, the left fielder had his wits. And not much else.
He still was unsure of exactly what had happened on the first-inning play that left him with a mild concussion.
The Yankees’ Paul O’Neill had looped a two-out fly to shallow left field, Martin raced in and Guillen sprinted out. As Martin lunged and made the catch, Guillen tried leaping over him but Martin’s head hit Guillen’s leg.
Guillen suffered a bruised knee and a sore ankle and stayed in the game. Martin also jogged back to left field after the Mariners batted in the first inning, but manager Lou Piniella went onto the field himself pulled him before the second inning started.
“We were down there worrying if Guillen could play and Martin went out and took his position,” Piniella said.
“I knew I was a little out of it,” said Martin, who hadn’t played all week because of a sore back. “But I hadn’t played in five days and I wanted to go back out there. I remember the play, but that’s about it.”
Trainer Rick Griffin said Martin’s playing status is day-to-day.
“That was scary,” Piniella said. “It could have been much worse. They hit pretty good.”
Mike Cameron, who was supposed to have the day off, entered the game in center field and Javier moved to left.
With David Bell still gimpy with a sprained knee, it left the Mariners extremely thin on the bench. Utility player Charles Gipson and catcher Dan Wilson were the only healthy reserves.
It again raised the issue of how long the Mariners can continue to carry 12 pitchers at a time they need at least one more position player.
“We’re pretty banged up,” Piniella said. “We’re getting pretty short on the bench.”
Purpose pitch to Ichiro? Nothing got a rise from the crowd of 45,880 more than Yankee pitcher Orlando Hernandez’s first pitch to Ichiro Suzuki in the eighth inning.
Suzuki, with his 23-game hitting streak at stake, took a fastball in the middle of his back. It was reminiscent of the pitch from Boston’s Hideo Nomo that hit him earlier this month.
Intentional?
“Don’t ask me that question,” Suzuki said.
Coincidence or not, Mariners closer Kazuhiro Sasaki hit the Yankees’ Scott Brosius in the back in the 10th inning.
Piniella doubted there was a purpose to Hernandez’s pitch.
“It was a one-run game and he was leading off the ninth inning,” he said. “I find that hard to believe. I would think he was trying to get him out.”
When the game went into extra innings, Suzuki got one more chance in the 10th to extend his hitting streak but grounded out to shortstop Derek Jeter.
Afterward, he tried to diffuse all the attention on the streak.
“This is not the end of my career, so don’t think about it so hard, please,” he said through a translator. “I don’t have any regrets because I always try hard to get a good result. Today, I didn’t get a good result.”
Feeling better: Mariners third baseman David Bell didn’t get into Saturday’s game, but he reported for duty ready to play if needed. Bell sprained his left knee on a diving attempt Thursday against the White Sox and underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam on Friday. The results were negative.
“I feel 100 percent better,” Bell said Saturday morning.
It’s been a difficult week for Bell, who missed three starts before Thursday because of a stomach virus.
“The week is over today,” he said. “I feel good now.”
Packing them in: Saturday’s crowd of 45,880 was the second largest in Safeco Field history, behind this year’s opening-night crowd of 45,911. With another sellout today, the three-game series against the Yankees will draw more than 137,000.
Kirby Arnold
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