While Mark Lowe zeroes in on the Mariners' record for scoreless innings to start a career, a member of the club's minor league staff is cheering him on from afar.
Pat Rice, the Mariners' minor league pitching coordinator, holds the club record with 13 scoreless innings in 1991. He pitched 52/3 shutout innings in his major league debut on May 18 at Yankee Stadium and didn't allow a run until a relief appearance on June 5 when Pete Incaviglia hit a sacrifice fly at Detroit.
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"He's had it way tougher than I had," Rice said Friday as he prepared to travel from Colorado Springs to Peoria, Ariz.
"It's kind of easy to have a good start and roll up some innings like I did. But he has had pressure situations almost every time and he's getting the job done.
"Although I guess you could consider my streak to be impressive just for the fact that I didn't have nearly as good of stuff as he has."
Pat's kidding. I think.
The money quotes:
"To be honest, if it was the middle of the season last year, I would have said I'd be surprised at how he's handled it," Rice said.
"But when he left spring training this year, he was prepared and this hasn't surprised me a bit.
"He found something at the end of spring training. Not only did his stuff get better and his pitches get better, but he knew it and felt it. He became more confident because of it."
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