One idea for tempering Yuniesky Betancourt’s wild swing is that if he batted second, he’d sense more responsibility to work counts, advance runners and give a guy like Ichiro Suzuki an opportunity to run.
Tonight, Mariners manager Jim Riggleman plugged Betancourt into the No. 2 hole for the first time this season. And what did he do his first at-bat? He struck out on three pitches.
So much for an immediate transformation into a classic No. 2 hitter, although Betancourt will get a few more chances tonight to get used to it. After tonight? Riggleman isn’t saying whether this is part of a longterm plan or a one-time thing.
Batting Betancourt second, moving Adrian Beltre up to third and Raul Ibanez down to fourth has more to do with the need for change to help snap a seven-game losing streak.
“When you lose seven games in a row and just run the same (lineup) out there every day, you feel like you’ve got to have a little different look,” Riggleman said. “It’s not sitting anybody down, just moving them around a little bit.”
Riggleman hoped Beltre batting behind him would give Betancourt more fastballs to hit, although he noted that Suzuki also did that when Betancourt was batting ninth.
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