The Mariners announced Erik Bedard would not make his scheduled start Sunday against the Orioles just hours before he was to face his former team.
But Orioles manager Dave Trembley wasn?t caught off guard, as he was prepared for Mariners starter Felix Hernandez, who took Bedard?s spot in the rotation.
“I just switched it to the lineup I was playing on Monday,” Trembley said. “I had a lineup on Monday already written out and I told the guys about who was going to play on Monday against Hernandez, so all I did was flip it and made Monday?s lineup today.”
Hernandez was scheduled to start in this afternoon?s series finale at 3:05, but the Mariners will send Carlos Silva to the mound to face Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera.
Trembley said facing the Mariners? top two starters was a case of “pick your poison.”
“From the standpoint of Erik Bedard, or Felix Hernandez or whatever, I think the sentiment amongst our guys is that they want to compete amongst the best,” Trembley said. “And they were looking forward to that sense of competition against Erik, as I?m sure he was. He?s a competitor. Our guys are competitors. You want to face the best and see where you measure up, see where you stand. But it will happen again. We?ll get him somewhere else down the road. We go there twice I think.”
The Orioles sent Bedard to Seattle on Feb. 8 for center fielder Adam Jones, closer George Sherrill, and three minor league pitchers.
Bedard went 13-5 with the Orioles last season, but Hernandez was 14-7 with a 3.92 ERA.
“They?re both kind of similar,” Orioles third baseman Melvin Mora said. “The only thing is one?s right-handed, one?s left-handed. They?re both pretty good.”
Bedard is listed as the Tuesday night starter at Tampa Bay.
BY THE NUMBERS » The Orioles bullpen had a 1.10 ERA through four games ? The Orioles entered Sunday with a 182-156 edge in the series with Seattle ? The Orioles? average attendance through Sunday was 23,156 – about half the ballpark?s capacity
