On Friday, Rowland-Smith came off the disabled list, rejoined the Seattle Mariners and found interim manager Brown waiting for him.
“He wasn’t as confident as I’d seen him before,” Brown said of Rowland-Smith’s arrival in the minor leagues. “That bothered me. (Confidence is) a big tool that he’s always had.
“I’ve said it before, we can grade out fastballs and grade out offspeed pitches, but what a guy has inside, that’s tough to grade that out.”
Rowland-Smith came back anxious to pitch again, convinced he’d put his doubts and distractions behind him.
“I’m not worrying about things that I shouldn’t worry about,” he said. “I was a mess when I left. I’m good to go now.”
In five rehab starts with the Rainiers, Rowland-Smith went 2-4 with a 5.11 earned-run average, and Thursday went seven innings and allowed one run.
That came after he’d appeared in 22 games – 19 starts – with the Mariners, and went 1-10 with a 6.96 ERA. In many of those games, he was unlucky. In most, at some point, he was ineffective.
Now, Rowland-Smith is in the Seattle bullpen. He may get one or two starts late in September, depending upon whether the Mariners want to give Jason Vargas, Doug Fister or David Pauley a break between starts.
ICHIRO’S THE MAN
Ichiro Suzuki has 2,203 hits, good for 172nd place on baseball’s all-time list, and he reached the 2,200 plateau in fewer games than anyone since 1945. It took Ichiro 1,559 games to get there – 110 games faster than the previous quickest, Stan Musial.
BRANYAN BLAST
Russell Branyan’s towering home run down the right-field line Thursday was estimated by the Mariners to have traveled 381 feet – a figure disputed not by Branyan but by a number of Cleveland Indians.
“That thing had to be 481 feet,” Cleveland’s Travis Hafner said.
Branyan shrugged.
“I hit it good, but we lost,” said Branyan, who’s had two stints with the Indians and Mariners. “If we’d won, I’d have talked about it.”
The home run was Branyan’s 21st, and 11th in 161 at-bats since joining Seattle. That total gives him the team lead, breaking a tie with Franklin Gutierrez, who has 10 home runs in 485 at-bats.
ON TAP
Seattle plays host to Cleveland today in a 7:15 p.m. game that will be televised on FSN. Probable starting pitchers: Cleveland’s Mitch Talbot (8-11, 4.61 ERA) vs. David Pauley (2-6, 4.25).
