Mariners Can Clinch Division Title Today

The Seattle Mariners, completing one of the most dominant seasons in major league history, have earned the right to celebrate an American League West championship that was taken for granted months ago and could be officially clinched tonight.

If the Mariners beat the Angels tonight, and if the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, the Mariners clinch. The players might shake hands, but there will be no champagne showers, no screaming and yelling, any thoughts of euphoria tempered and drained by last week’s terrorist attacks that left Americans numb. Kazuhiro Sasaki, the Mariners’ Japanese-born closer, is numb too.

“Even if I am on the mound when we clinch, I will not feel any joy,” he told the Seattle Times.

Before cheering their husbands tonight, the wives of Mariner players are scheduled to join in collecting donations for the American Red Cross. The Mariners are expected to donate too.

General Manager Pat Gillick said “there won’t be any partying” when the Mariners clinch, less of an order to his players than a reflection of their sentiments.

“I don’t see how we could celebrate after this,” third baseman David Bell told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “I don’t think we could celebrate even if we were told we had to.”

Said Seattle Manager Lou Piniella to the Tacoma News-Tribune: “If we win it all in October--or November, now--then we’ll celebrate. And if we don’t, then we’ll go home quietly.”

As far as the Angels can tell, tonight’s game marks the first time in franchise history that the team has faced the same starting pitcher in consecutive games. Freddy Garcia, who pitched eight shutout innings last Monday in the Angels’ last game before baseball paused to mourn, starts for Seattle tonight.

Garcia, who leads the American League with a 2.98 earned-run average, has pitched 17 consecutive shutout innings against the Angels. He is 4-0 with a 0.57 ERA against the Angels this season.

The Texas League awarded its championship to the Angels’ double-A Arkansas affiliate. Arkansas led Round Rock in the best-of-seven championship series, 2-0, when baseball stopped, and league officials decided to end the series rather than resume after six days off.

First baseman Casey Kotchman, the Angels’ top draft pick this year, has been slow to recover from what doctors diagnosed as tendinitis in his right wrist. After the injury did not respond to initial treatment, doctors immobilized the wrist for several weeks and plan to start intensive physical therapy next week. Darrell Miller, the Angels’ minor league director, said Kotchman is not expected to participate in the fall instructional league but is expected to be ready for spring training.

Miller said pitcher Derrick Turnbow is throwing in instructional league. Turnbow, 23, who dazzled the Angels in spring training with fastballs up to 98 mph, underwent season-ending surgery in April to repair a broken right forearm.

Third baseman Jose Fernandez was selected Monday to the Pacific Coast League all-star team. Fernandez, promoted to the Angels for the final month of the season, hit .338 with 30 home runs and a league-high 114 runs batted in at triple-A Salt Lake.

ON DECK

Opponent-Seattle Mariners, three games.

Site-Safeco Field, Seattle.

Tonight-7.

TV-Channel 9 tonight.

Radio-KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

Records-Angels 73-71, Mariners 104-40.

Record vs. Mariners-3-11.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ RAMON ORTIZ

(12-8, 4.35 ERA)

vs.

MARINERS’ FREDDY GARCIA

(16-5, 2.98 ERA) Update-Ortiz is 5-1 in his last 10 starts. The Angels need to win nine of their final 18 games to finish with their fourth winning record in five seasons.

Wednesday, 7 p.m.-Scott Schoeneweis (10-9, 5.10) vs. Jamie Moyer (17-5, 3.35).

Thursday, 3:30 p.m.-Jarrod Washburn (11-8, 3.50) vs. Aaron Sele (13-5, 3.71).