Thursday, February 26, 2009

ST1 | Feilx Day

M's 4 | Padres 4

Mariners Spring Update | NewsTribune

Felix Hernandez went two innings in part because the Padres made three outs on four pitches in the first inning. It took him 19 more pitches to get three more outs.

“I threw almost all fastballs,” Hernandez said. “I wanted to command both sides of the plate.” One of those fastballs became a two-run home run by Henry Blanco, and the Padres would have scored a third run against Felix except Endy Chavez threw out Emil Brown at the plate on a great diving tag by catcher Jamie Burke.

Manager Don Wakamatsu has made it clear already that he’s not going to wait around for offense. In the second inning, he had Chris Woodward stealing third, and the stolen base set up a Seattle run. A moment later, Reegie Corona was caught stealing. No matter – Seattle is going to keep trying to manufacture runs with the lower half of their lineup.

Erik Bedard feels ahead of schedule and will pitch again today, two days after working in an intrasquad game. “It’s a surprise,” he said of how good his left shoulder feels. My velocity isn’t there yet, but everything feels good and I feel strong.”

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Third base coach Bruce Hines has had three runners thrown out at the plate in two games, but Wakamatsu insists he’s not bothered by that. “Third base is one of the hardest coaching positions there is. You have to make a split-second decision,” he said. “A lot of times early in camp you’ll see third-base coaches who will want to make the decision before it’s time.”

Mike Morse doubled home a run in the fifth inning, then was thrown out trying to get to third base on the play.

Bryan LaHair, normally a first baseman, played left field late in the game and tripled in the ninth inning. “We’re rotating guys around different places to get them at-bats,” Wakamatsu said.

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