Mariners Notebook: Mateo itching to pitch

It's been about seven weeks, and now, finally, the wait is over. Mateo was activated off the disabled list before last night's game and was eligible to pitch against the Angels in the series finale.

He doesn't know how much he'll pitch in the final 2 1/2 weeks of the season, but any chance to play is good after not having been able to do anything much resembling pitching.

"It's been kind of hard," Mateo said. "I've never been on the disabled list before this, and it's almost two months without pitching. I watched the guys pitch, but I burned."

Because Mateo has pitched relatively little this year, 51 2/3 innings, there was some thought given to having him throw this winter, but after these next couple of weeks, the Mariners want him to shut it down, and he will.

A native of the Dominican Republic, he's pitched in winter leagues the past four years.

"My mission now is to try to not do too much, to not get hurt again," Mateo said. "I'm not going to pitch winter ball. I think my arm needs some rest."

Manager Bob Melvin said the club agrees.

"We'd prefer that he doesn't pitch this winter," the manager said. "We're happy to have him healthy again."

GETTING BETTER: Before last night, the Mariners had two shutouts in their past four games, one each by Gil Meche and Ryan Franklin.

And in the past seven games, another starter, rookie Bobby Madritsch, has thrown eight shutout innings twice.

It's the kind of pitching Seattle hasn't seen all year.

"You can see the performances getting better," Melvin said. "You can feel it. Gil and Ryan got the complete game shutout and Bobby almost got it twice."

That's not going to bail out the Seattle season, but those are the kinds of performances the Mariners will need to avoid 100 losses.

Before last night, Seattle had won four of seven games, and if the Mariners could double that and get eight wins in their next 14 games, they'd have 63 wins heading into the final weekend of the season.

And avoiding 100 losses would be good psychologically, given that it's been 20 years since the Mariners have hit triple digits in losses.

"One hundred is one of those landmark numbers," Melvin said. "We're aware of it, of course. But you can get caught up in it. If we continue to go out and play good baseball, that's what's going to get it done."

THE NATION: If you ever wonder if there was such a thing as Red Sox Nation, you only had to be in Safeco Field for four days last weekend.

Probably no visiting team has gotten as much support in Safeco Field as the Sox did during that stint.

Certainly the Yankees can pack the place like nobody's business, but any "Let's Go Yankees" chants die in a chorus of booing. Not so with the "Let's Go Red Sox" singsongs that swirled on the first series of this homestand. That was particularly true on Friday and Saturday, which were big Boston wins.

And while the Mariners are taking on their natural rivals, the Oakland A's, this weekend, the Sox will be in Yankee Stadium for three games in what is as heated a rivalry as there is in team sports.

There were probably a couple of reasons for Boston's support level here last weekend. One, the Sox had been the hottest team in the game, having won 20 of 22 entering the series; two, they seem to have a sense that this is their year, even though the Sox have been in second place behind the hated Yankees for most of the season.

In a new book that explores the psyche of the Red Sox and their fans, New York-based baseball writer Steve Kettmann makes the intriguing suggestion that the 2003 season, even though it ended in a gut-wrenching Game 7 loss to the Yankees, gives promise that a Boston World Series title is near.

This is saying something, given that Babe Ruth pitched the Red Sox to their last title in 1918. But Kettmann, writing in "One Day At Fenway: A Day In The Life Of Baseball In America," says Boston's new ownership group of John Henry and Larry Lucchino, "has shown an inspired understanding of what the George Steinbrenner-era Yankees are all about (and what it will take to beat them)."

Since that was written, the Red Sox lost out to the Yankees in trying to add Alex Rodriguez.

But general manager Theo Epstein pulled the trigger at midseason, trading shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and bringing the Red Sox a starting shortstop in Orlando Cabrera and a defensive whiz first baseman in Doug Mientkiewicz. Suddenly, the Sox soared.

Melvin, who played for both the Yankees and the Red Sox at the end of his playing career, says the difference in the Red Sox now -- Boston's winning streak started shortly after the trade -- can scarcely be missed.

"The changes with Mientkiewicz and Cabrera have really shored up the defense," Melvin said. "And you can seen that the players have gotten the idea that the organization will do its best so that the club can win."

No one, Kettmann suggests, has quite ever been willing to stand up to the Yankees and slug it out, dollar for dollar.

Will it work? No one can say for sure. But the games this weekend in Yankee Stadium and next weekend in Fenway Park are sure to be wars.

That much seems certain.

NOTES: Rookie first baseman Bucky Jacobsen underwent knee surgery yesterday. The report from the medical crew was that Jacobsen came through it fine and he should be released from the hospital today. ... The Mariners spend much of their pregame time huddled in a kangaroo court session. Fines were divvied out to most of the players and coaches by the veterans in charge -- reliever Eddie Guardado and second baseman Bret Boone. ...

Disabled pitcher Clint Nageotte will not pitch again this season. Nageotte, still troubled by back problems, will leave the Mariners today and fly to Arizona, where he will undergo conditioning and injury rehabilitation. It's possible he will throw some in the instructional league. ... Nageotte, third baseman Justin Leone and lefty starter/reliever Matt Thornton all will play winter baseball in Venezuela for the Lara team. ... Joining Nageotte on the flight to Arizona today will be reliever George Sherrill. The Mariners don't want Sherrill to pitch any more after a pitching-heavy past two seasons. But they do want him to get in conditioning work over the next few weeks. ...

Dan Rohn, the Tacoma manager who has been with the Mariners throughout this homestand, will leave the team Sunday and take the rest of the winter off. He hasn't had a winter off since 1999, having managed in either the Arizona Fall League or in the winter leagues every year since. ... After being forced to wait almost an entire season, the Mariners have settled on two possible starting times for Saturday, Oct. 2, the day when the club will honor retiring designated hitter Edgar Martinez in a rare postgame ceremony. The game time, which was being held up while Fox decided whether to televise the game, will be either 1:05 p.m. or 5:35 p.m. If Fox (KCPQ/13) does televise the game, it will start at 1:05 p.m. If not, FSN will do the televising and the game will start at 5:35 p.m.

P-I reporter John Hickey can be reached at 206-448-8004 or johnhickey@seattlepi.com

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