Lineups
Mariners
Ichiro RF
Chone Figgins 2B
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Jose Lopez 3B
Casey Kotchman DH
Justin Smoak 1B
Michael Saunders LF
Rob Johnson C
Jack Wilson SS
RHP Felix Hernandez (7-5, 2.88 ERA)
Angels
Erick Aybar SS
Howard Kendrick 2B
Bobby Abreu RF
Torii Hunter CF
Hideki Matsui DH
Mike Napoli 1B
Juan Rivera LF
Kevin Frandsen 3B
Jeff Mathis C
Jered Weaver RHP (8-5, 3.20 ERA)
UPDATE: One other thing: Russ Branyan explained the odd toe injury that occurred Thursday morning when a table fell on his foot in his hotel room. He showed reporters the toe – it’s pretty ugly. Manager Don Wakamatsu said he’s “iffy” for the entire series in Anaheim.
Branyan explained that the sun shining through the open blinds awakened him early in the morning. He went to close them, and moved a chair against the curtains to keep them shut. When he turned to go back to bed, he bumped the table, knocking it over directly onto his foot. Apparently it was a top-heavy iron apparatus that didn’t need much momentum to topple over.
Not yet realizing the extent of his injury, he got back into bed. But he quickly realized something was wrong.
“It’s pretty wet down there so I turned on the light and there was blood on the sheets,” he said. “Then I get up and I went to the bathroom and got a towel and wrapped it tight, until the bleeding stopped.”
Eventually, Branyan called trainer Rob Nodine, (not Rob Johnson, as I said earlier) who brought over an ice pack.
Branyan added that the hotel removed the table from his room.
Right-hander David Pauley, who pitched well as the emergency fill-in starter for Cliff Lee last Friday on the day of his trade, will get another start, Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said today. Pauley will start Monday at Safeco Field against the White Sox when the No. 5 spot in the rotation comes up. Pauley limited the Yankees to two hits and one earned run in five innings. Wakamatsu said Pauley is available for an inning of relief tonight as a last resort.
“A lot of it had to do with his last performance, and giving him an opportunity to pitch,” Wakamatsu said of his decision. “I thought he did a nice job last time. He deserves another shot.”
In other news, Mike Sweeney, on the DL since June 23 with lower back spasms, will join Triple-A Tacoma in Reno tomorrow to begin a rehab assignment. He’ll play DH for two days, then get a day off, “and we’ll see how it goes,” Wakamatsu said.
Reliever Shawn Kelley, sidelined since June 16 with elbow inflammation, played catch for the second day in a row and Wakmatsu said “he’s progressing in his rehab. Things are looking up.”
Kelley will eventually need a rehab assignment, but Wakamatsu said that Kelley first will have bullpen sessions and a simulated game before that takes place. “He’s still a ways away” from a rehab assignment, the manager said.
The Mariners held a hitters meeting today to address issues that arose in Thursday’s game involving failing to move a runner, and failure to drive in a runner from third with less than two outs.
“We’re going to do everything we can to improve that,” Wakamatsu said. “A lot of this is dialogue, and understanding that scoring three runs is not enough.”
Casey Kotchman gets the start at DH tonight. Milton Bradley will return to the spot on Saturday against left-hander Joe Saunders.
“Kotchman is swinging the bat well. I don’t want him to sit for a number of days,” Wakamatsu said.