Piniella Declares: ‘I’Ve Lost For The Last Time With Norm’
After 152 games, Lou Piniella made a painful decision.
“I’ve lost for the last time with Norm,” he said Thursday.
It was plain talk about reliever Norm Charlton, who threw one pitch a night earlier and gave up the two-run double that beat Seattle. For Charlton, it was his 10th blown save of the season and, according to Piniella, his last.
On the depth chart that has had Charlton in the mix to set up closer Heathcliff Slocumb - and occasionally face a left-handed hitter in the ninth inning - Charlton has now dropped behind lefty Paul Spoljaric and, perhaps, pitchers Mark Holzemer and Greg McCarthy.
“I’ve gone with our most experienced pitchers the last few weeks,” Piniella said of his bullpen, “but that may change.”
Slocumb remains the closer, Ayala and Timlin the setup men, though Ayala has crept into the “indispensable” role with effective relief since Aug. 1. In his past 20 games (prior to Thursday), Ayala has retired the first batter he faced 17 times - often in critical, game-on-the-line situations - and has an earned run average of 2.20.
“One of our problems has been our lefthanded pitchers aren’t getting left-handed hitters out,” Piniella said. “We’re going to solve that.”
But not with Charlton in the ninth inning.
Notes
Third baseman Russ Davis continues taking daily batting practice, but there’s no date set for his return from a badly sprained ankle - he can’t run yet. “I haven’t even tried cutting yet because I can’t even run in a straight line,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of pain, still. It’s discouraging.” … Fresh from the owners meetings in Atlanta, team president Chuck Armstrong flew into Dallas for the night to take in a Seattle game. Realignment is no closer now than the day those meetings began, Armstrong said… . Joey Cora was given the night off as part of a plan to give Mariners regulars a break this month, and Rich Amaral started at second base. It was the 23rd time this season Amaral has batted leadoff… . In case you’re wondering, the Mariners began the night with 119 errors in their first 152 games, then committed two more in the first four innings Thursday. Still, those 121 errors are a far cry from the worst Mariners team - the 1986 squad, which committed 156 errors.
Coming up
Seattle begins a four-game series with the Oakland A’s tonight in the Oakland Coliseum with a 7:35 game that will be televised on Fox Sports Northwest. Probable starting pitchers: Jamie Moyer (16-4, 3.73 ERA) vs. Jimmy Haynes (3-4, 4.25).