Opponent: Kansas City Royals
When: 1:35 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: None
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle left-hander Jamie Moyer (9-4, 4.34 earned run average) vs. right-hander D.J. Carrasco (5-6, 4.37).
Power to come
Mike Morse has hit three home runs this season, hardly enough for anyone to consider him a power threat.
Have patience.
Morse’s strength and his swing convince manager Mike Hargrove that he may develop into a consistent home run hitter.
“He’s a big kid and he’s only 23 years old, and the ball jumps off his bat in batting practice,” said Hargrove, who remembers one home run this season that Morse hit over the center field fence in spacious Safeco Field. “You don’t hit them out in center field here unless you’ve got some pop in your bat. If he keeps developing the way he should, he has the strength to someday be considered a legitimate power hitter.”
Once Morse learns the nuances of his swing and what major league pitchers throw at him, his power will flourish, Hargrove said.
“It could be a month, a year,” Hargrove said. “It really comes down to when he learns how to hit at the big-league level.”
Morse, who has started 48 games at shortstop, was the DH Tuesday for the second time this season. He may get more starts at DH as Hargrove uses Yuniesky Betancourt at shortstop.
“I don’t think anybody thinks Mike Morse is going to be a DH the rest of his life,” Hargrove said. “But the way the club is now, we’re trying to get him at-bats and he may be DHing a lot.”
No sympathy between the lines: Hargrove said he doesn’t wish the Royals’ horrible season on anybody, and he hopes they play nothing but winning baseball. After today’s series finale.
“They’re a good bunch of guys over there and (manager) Buddy Bell is a close personal friend of mine,” Hargrove said. “I hope they go on a win streak as soon as they leave here. That’s as close as I can come to sympathizing.”
Reliving “the throw:” Betancourt’s underhand throw from behind second base to first in the fourth inning Monday remained a topic of conversation Tuesday.
Betancourt, playing second, sprinted behind the bag to field a bouncer by the Royals’ Mike Sweeney and, even though his momentum took him into left field, made a strong underhand throw – similar to a fastpitch softball delivery – to get Sweeney out.
“A lot of times guys will turn and face (the base) and throw as they’re moving away, but you don’t see a play made like that,” Hargrove said.
The play confirmed what the Mariners had known about Betancourt before they called him up from Class AAA Tacoma on July 28: He is a defensive wizard with a strong arm, despite being one of the smaller Mariners at 5 feet 10 inches.
“It’s strong forearms,” trainer Rick Griffin said. “Guys who can make a play like that have strong forearms.”
Sharpshooters: Boeing CEO Alan Mulally gave a golf lesson to a bunch of professionals, hitting a 100-yard wedge shot 10 inches from the stick in a closest-to-the-pin contest before Tuesday’s game.
Mulally’s shot easily beat PGA Champions Tour pros Allen Doyle (6 feet) and Andy Bean (7 feet 3 inches), Mariners third-base coach Carlos Garcia (13-6) and former Seattle Seahawk Jacob Green (20-10).
The golfers hit three shots from an artificial-turf mat at home plate to a flag 100 yards away in center field.
Garcia suffered farthest-from-the-pin distinction when he shanked the first of his shots to right field and into the glove of Mariner Dave Hansen, who fielded the ball on one hop and threw it within about 30 feet of the pin.
Bean and Doyle are in Seattle for the Boeing Greater Seattle Classic at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. The 54-hole tournament starts Friday.
Of note: Injured catcher Dan Wilson (torn knee ligament) jogged in the outfield Tuesday afternoon for the second time since he was hurt May 5. … Pitcher Bobby Madritsch (strained left shoulder) played catch from about 80 feet and softly threw a few pitches off flat ground as pitching coach Bryan Price monitored his throwing mechanics. … The Mariners are tied for second in the league with the Devil Rays with 12 rookies who have played this season. The leaders? The Royals with 14. The Rockies lead the majors with 17 rookies.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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