Martinez Gets 2 More Starts

Dennis Martinez talked about two or three more starts. On Monday, the Seattle Mariners made it official - Martinez has two starts to prove he still belongs in a major league rotation.

And if two starts don’t turn around his fortunes, Martinez’s spot in that rotation will go to someone else.

“Dennis will start Friday in the Kingdome against Baltimore, then again Wednesday in Anaheim,” manager Lou Piniella said. “After that, we’ll re-evaluate.”

After making the team out of spring training, despite rather mediocre numbers, Martinez has made seven starts for Seattle. Aside from a victory over Cleveland, most have been unimpressive.

Asked whose idea it was that Martinez get two more starts - his or his pitcher’s - Piniella smiled.

“I think it was mutual,” Piniella said.

Notes

Dan Wilson is hot, batting .342, and has a .400 career average against Milwaukee’s Jeff D’Amico. So why wasn’t he in the Seattle starting lineup? Because John Marzano has done a good job handling Bob Wolcott this year, and Piniella says he has to find rest for Wilson to keep his catcher fresh in the second half of the season. … Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr has an All-Star band revue on a concert tour, and since they were in Milwaukee for a concert tonight, some of the rock luminaries - including guitarist Peter Frampton - stopped to watch batting practice. Frampton wanted to meet Piniella. Turns out he was a huge fan of the ‘78 Yankees. The two talked for more than 20 minutes. … … Seattle ends a seven-game trip with an 11:05 a.m. PDT game today at Milwaukee.