“I might have choked him, though,” Smoak said, forcing a laugh. “I’m not good at watching.”
Smoak went through a similar injury to his right thumb earlier in the season, but this one was worse. He is frustrated, in part because he says he has never missed time with an injury.
“I took a bad hop in the field and didn’t say anything to anyone,” Smoak said. “Then in the on-deck circle, I couldn’t swing the bat. That kind of took care of that.”
Smoak was available to pinch hit Tuesday and tonight, and he and manager Eric Wedge have targeted Friday in Safeco Field for his return to the lineup.
If he can’t play, Smoak said, he might have to kill his imaginary dog. No, he didn’t mean it. Smoak is a South Carolina boy and loves dogs.
Smoak has appeared in 100 games this season, batting .221 with 12 home runs and 44 RBI.
LOWE’S LIFE GOOD
Reliever Mark Lowe is finally healthy and pitching in Texas like he once did out of the Seattle bullpen – not allowing a run in his last 10 appearances as a Rangers setup man.
Part of the Cliff Lee trade last July, Lowe began his career with the Mariners in 2006.
“I look over there now, there’s only two guys left from ’06 – Felix (Hernandez) and Ichiro,” Lowe said. “The bullpen is totally different from a year ago, except for Brandon League.”
Lowe was part of the Rangers’ World Series team in 2010, and he and his wife are expecting their first child in November. Life, he said, is good. It was good in Seattle, too.
“Guys who haven’t played there look at the travel the Mariners deal with, and hitters look at the ballpark and don’t want to go there,” Lowe said. “Guys who have played there feel differently. It’s a beautiful area, great fans.”
Asked about fans booing Ichiro, who began the night batting .269, Lowe shook his head.
“You don’t boo a nobody,” he said. “You boo a somebody. Ichiro is that team’s superstar. For what he’s done in his career, you can’t boo Ichi. There are a lot of guys who don’t hit what he’s hitting now.”
SHORT HOPS
The Mariners signed third-round draft pick Carter Capps on Tuesday, a right-handed pitcher who has been clocked at 99 mph in the Cape Cod League this summer. … Cleanup hitter Mike Carp is, according to manager Eric Wedge, “giving us our best at-bats” in the past few weeks. “Mike goes up ready to hit, and he hunts the baseball. He’s done damage against some pretty good pitchers.”
ON TAP
Seattle ends its trip with a 5:05 p.m. game in Texas that will be televised on Root Sports. Probable starting pitchers: Seattle’s Jason Vargas (6-10, 4.02 ERA) vs. Derek Holland (10-4, 4.35).
larry.larue@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners
