Johnson & Fassero Act Breaking Up

Randy Johnson goes after a share of the American League record tonight as he seeks his 17th consecutive victory - and if you think that’s a tough act to follow, so does Lou Piniella.

After projecting his starting rotation for the next month, Piniella and his Mariners coaches decided it was not in the best interests of left-hander Jeff Fassero to pitch the day after Johnson does - especially against the same team.

“I told Jeff the other day, you’re throwing 92-93 miles per hour and that’s quick,” Piniella said, “but it doesn’t look that quick a day after Randy’s thrown 98-99 mph.”

So Johnson will start tonight against Chicago - in a town where he is 6-0 in his career - but Fassero won’t pitch in the Thursday game in Baltimore. Instead, he’ll be bumped to Saturday.

“The last couple of times he’s pitched following Randy, he was throwing hard but wasn’t as effective, and some of that was that hitters had just faced Randy,” Piniella said. “If we change it this way now, we can put Jamie Moyer between them. That gives teams a fastslow-fast series.

“If we hadn’t done it now, Jeff would have followed Randy the next five starts.”

Fassero had only one qualm about the switch - he won’t get to face the Milwaukee Brewers next week because of it.

“Another time,” he said of the team that clubbed him last weekend.

Notes

Outfielder Lee Tinsley will undergo surgery on Friday to remove a bone chip from his right elbow, an operation likely to sideline him two to three weeks… . Albert Belle is at war with the Chicago media, and hasn’t spoken to the Windy City press this season. On Tuesday, Belle was taking batting practice when a Chicago reporter began talking to hitting instructor Bill Buckner. Belle stopped swinging, yelled “Shut up” at the writer, then continued taking batting practice… . Edgar Martinez extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a first-inning RBI single. That’s five games short of the longest such streak of his career… . Life as a short reliever can produce some unwieldy numbers. Norm Charlton’s earned run average, for instance, is 7.36, but nine of the 12 runs he’s allowed in 15 appearances came in two games. In the other 13 games he’s pitched, he has a 2.03 ERA.

Coming up

Two-game series concludes in Comiskey Park today with a 5:05 p.m. (PST) game with the White Sox that will be televised on Fox Sports Northwest. Probable starters: Randy Johnson (4-0, 2.41) vs. Danny Darwin (0-2, 2.33).