Today’s game

Opponent: Los Angeles Angels

When: 7:05 p.m.

Where: Safeco Field

TV: FSN (cable)

Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)

Probable starting pitchers: Seattle left-hander Jamie Moyer (5-7, 3.39 earned run average) vs. right-hander Bartolo Colon (0-4, 5.77).

Halfway to 200

Felix Hernandez passed the 100-inning mark in his season on Monday and, with 15 starts remaining if the Mariners keep him on an every-fifth-day schedule, he easily could reach 200 innings before the end of the season.

That’s more than Seattle planned. The Mariners have maintained since before spring training that 200 innings would be Hernandez’s limit as they protect their 20-year-old. That number includes spring training, where Hernandez pitched 14 innings in March.

He’s at 1032/3 in the regular season – 1172/3 overall.

“It’s going to be close,” pitching coach Rafael Chaves said.

Hernandez has averaged 62/3 innings in his past nine starts and, at that pace with 15 starts remaining, he would finish the season with 2102/3.

The issue now is what the Mariners can do to keep his workload close to the 200-inning goal.

One answer is to pull him from a game when there’s a debate whether to send him back out for another inning. That would work if the Mariners’ bullpen is fresh enough to pitch the final three innings – or more. Monday, when Hernandez threw 101 pitches over 62/3, the Mariners might have pulled him earlier, but needed a longer outing to save their worn-down bullpen.

The Mariners have been careful to limit Hernandez’s work at close to 100 pitches each outing, even though he has seemed fresh enough to work longer in many of those games.

As the season moves on, they might begin paying more attention to pitch counts than innings. It seems certain Hernandez will reach 200 innings before the end of September and, should the Mariners remain in the division race or even advance to the playoffs, Hernandez’s workload could become an intriguing issue.

“We’re going to have to come up with a plan or a solution for this,” Chaves said. “As it is right now, we don’t have any plans to change anything.”

Reed won’t back off: Center fielder Jeremy Reed will see a hand specialist today to learn what’s next in his treatment for a broken right thumb. As uncertain as things are until Dr. Carleton Keck sees him, Reed is absolutely positive about one thing.

This injury won’t change his diving, wall-banging way of playing center field.

“I’ll play the same way when I get back onto the field,” Reed said.

He was injured Sunday while diving for a bloop in right-center field, a play that was the result of a communication problem with right fielder Ichiro Suzuki.

“It was a play that was between both of us,” Reed said. “But there was enough air under the ball that it should have been caught. Both of us looked at each other and hesitated a little bit. As it got closer and closer, I didn’t know if I could make the play if I did dive.”

Suzuki backed away as Reed made a dive, the ball bouncing off his body and his right (glove) hand slamming awkwardly on the turf.

“At first I thought it was dislocated and I tried to set it back in place,” Reed said. “But after the second pitch (of the next at-bat) the pain was almost unbearable.”

Morse injured: Backup in-fielder/outfielder Mike Morse, sent back to Class AAA Tacoma on Saturday after the Mariners traded for Eduardo Perez, has an injured knee and will need surgery. Morse has a torn medial meniscus in his right knee and is expected to undergo arthroscopic surgery this week. He played Sunday, going 2-for-3 for the Rainiers, but wasn’t in the lineup Monday.

The voice rests: Play-by-play announcer Dave Niehaus will take his annual midseason break, missing games today through Sunday before returning to the broadcast booth after the All-Star break. Ron Fairly will assume more play-by-play duties today and former Mariner Mike Blowers, who is part of the pre and postgame shows, will handle in-game analysis. Kevin Calabro, the longtime voice of the Seattle SuperSonics who has filled in for Niehaus during past vacations, will call games this weekend.

Of note: Sean Green, stricken Sunday by back spasms so severe that he spent two nights in the hospital, returned to Safeco Field on Tuesday. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday. … The Mariners’ starting lineup Monday was truly an international affair, with pitcher Felix Hernandez (Venezuela), catcher Kenji Johjima (Japan), first baseman Richie Sexson (Brush Prairie, Wash.), second baseman Jose Lopez (Venezuela), shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt (Cuba), left fielder Raul Ibanez (Miami), center fielder Shin-Soo Choo (Korea) and right fielder Ichiro Suzuki (Japan). … Richie Sexson committed his first error of the season when he made a bad throw in the fourth inning. He’d gone 108 games without an error dating back to Sept. 3, 2005.

Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer