Knee Injury Sidelines Moyer

Jamie Moyer’s playoffs with the Seattle Mariners are over before they began.

The 37-year-old left-hander has a hairline fracture in his left kneecap. He will sit out the American League championship series and, if the Mariners make it, the World Series.

Moyer, a 13-game winner, was struck in the knee by a line drive off the bat of Chris Widger in a simulated game Saturday at Safeco Field. X-rays Sunday revealed the injury.

Moyer didn’t pitch in the Mariners’ division sweep of the Chicago White Sox. He was scheduled to be the Game 4 starter Saturday.

“This is a terrible thing,” Mariner Manager Lou Piniella said. “He worked so hard and so long this season to get to this point. I feel terrible for Jamie.”

Moyer will need at least four weeks to heal, with his knee placed in a splint for at least seven days. He will be with the Mariners on the bench throughout the playoffs.

If he continued to pitch, the crack in his kneecap could widen and he might need surgery.

“This is frustrating, very frustrating,” said Moyer, who was 13-10 with a 5.49 earned-run average in 26 starts this season. “I was very optimistic about the way things were going. I was looking forward to pitching my next game.

“I assumed after yesterday that after a couple of days I would be fine, but my knee was sore this morning, very sore.”

With Moyer sidelined, Piniella’s rotation for the league championship series will be left-hander John Halama and right-handers Freddy Garcia, Aaron Sele and Paul Abbott. Abbott, who started Game 2 at Chicago on Wednesday, was going to be in the bullpen for the league championship series before Moyer’s injury.

Garcia, who started in the opener of the Chicago series, or Halama will be the Mariners’ Game 1 pitcher. Sele will start Game 3 and Abbott will start Game 4 at Seattle Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Halama, a 14-game winner this season, did not pitch in the Chicago series, but he won his last three starts in September, including critical victories against the Oakland Athletics on Sept. 24 and in the next-to-last game of the season Sept. 30 against the Angels at Anaheim.

The Mariners didn’t clinch the wild card until the final day.

Rob Ramsay will be added to the Mariners’ playoff roster for the league championship series, taking Moyer’s place. That will give Piniella a second left-hander in his bullpen behind Arthur Rhodes.

Moyer started fast this season although he was on the disabled list from April 15 until June 2 because of a strained muscle in the back of his left shoulder.

On July 24, he was 11-3. But he struggled in August and September, losing seven of his last nine decisions, including six in a row.