Blanked by snow, M’s head into rain

CLEVELAND – For the better part of four days, the Seattle Mariners watched snow fall on this city, forcing the cancellation of all four games in their scheduled series with the Cleveland Indians.

And on the way to the airport Monday afternoon, after the third consecutive doubleheader had been bagged, the Mariners saw something else.

Sunshine.

There’s no little irony in a sunny bus ride to the airport after seeing Jacobs Field still buried beneath tons of snow, but now the Mariners are moving on to Boston where they must deal with a more familiar adversary – rain.

That’s right, a team that hasn’t played a game that counted since Wednesday, the Mariners will try to help the Boston Red Sox open their season at home this afternoon and will probably have to contend with rain.

“I’d almost rather play in the snow than in rain and cold,” outfielder Raul Ibanez said. “But we’ve definitely got to start playing some games.”

They’ll try today, when they thaw out Jeff Weaver, who hasn’t faced a batter since March 31, and ask him to face the Boston lineup in Fenway Park.

“We’ll be ready,” infielder Adrian Beltre said. “Nobody wanted these days off. In fact, it was more tiring waiting in hotel rooms to see if we’d play than actually playing.”

What impact will so much down time have?

“When I was a player here, we lost three games to snow in Milwaukee,” manager Mike Hargrove said. “When I was in Baltimore, our team sat out a three-game series waiting for a hurricane to come through. And in Texas we once lost three games to rain.

“Every team came out of it a little differently. The short answer is, no one knows how these things impact a team until you see the team play.

“We’ve taken batting practice the last two days, at least, and we’ve been able to get our bullpens in. But that’s still nothing like a normal schedule.”

Philosopher Ibanez said the snowouts could be taken one of two ways.

“You could say it either makes you exhausted or it’s kept you fresh,” Ibanez said. “Sitting is always more tiring than playing. Playing is what we love doing. Sitting? Nobody wants to sit.”

Among those thrown out of sync by the lack of work is opening day starter Felix Hernandez, now scheduled to pitch Wednesday night in Boston. The nature of that game, he said, will feel just like another opening day.

“I know the media will be there for Daisuke Matsuzaka and Ichiro,” Hernandez said. “That should be fun, and it will make it easier to focus.

“I’ve thrown three bullpens since I last pitched, so it’s nothing like a normal schedule. Not for any of us.”

There were no snowball fights Monday, in large part because the Mariners knew they had to get serious about the game again.

“We’re going to have to work harder to get where we were coming into Cleveland,” Ibaez said.

“It’s a bit like the first day of spring training, and when you don’t play for three or four days, you can step in at the plate and think the pitcher’s throwing 100 miles an hour,” veteran utility player Willie Bloomquist said. “You really have to keep your approach simple when you’ve had time off.

“Everybody is going to be in my role (today),” he said, laughing. “You sit around for three or four days and then play? It’s not as easy as it looks, folks.”

As for the lost weekend in Cleveland, no makeup dates have been scheduled.