Manager Manny Acta says Jensen Lewis needs to pick up some big innings for his tired bullpen.
UPDATED: 11:45 p.m.
SEATTLE, Wash. -- This is a daily briefing of the Indians 2010 regular season. The Indians play the Mariners tonight in the second game of a four-game series at Safeco Field.
Safeco Field's dimensions: Left field line 331 feet, left center 390, center field 405, right center 387 and right field line 326. Outfield fence, 8 feet high.
In-game notes:
Score: Mariners 1, Indians 0 after 6 1/2 innings.
No no-no: Luke French took his no-hitter into the seventh by retiring Asdrubal Cabrera on a fly ball to left. Shin-Soo Choo walked and Shelley Duncan, down in the count 1-2, singled through the middle for the Tribe's first hit.
With runners on first and second, Jayson Nix lined out to left and Choo was caught off second for an inning-ending double play.
Early lead: Franklin Gutierrez singled home Ichiro Suzuki for a 1-0 lead in the first as Fausto Carmona pitched himself into a mess. After Gutierrez's single, Carmona walked Russell Branyan to load the bases.
With a big inning percolating, Carmona struck out Jose Lopez and induced a 4-6-3 double play grounder from the bat of Casey Kotchman to limit the damage.
Nothing doing: French held the Indians hitless through the first six innings. He walked Lou Marson in the third and Shin-Soo Choo in the fourth
Pre-game notes:
Game 135: September is going to be a big month for the Jensen Lewis regarding his future with the Indians.
Lewis was recalled for the fifth time this season on Sept. 1 and manager Manny Acta made it clear when he wants from Lewis.
"We need him to pick up some good innings out of the bullpen," said Acta. "These guys have worked very hard up here. We need him to pick up some important innings. He's a veteran guy. We need to trust him in some of those situations.
"We're in a little bind in the bullpen. We had a very stressful homestand with the pen. . .This month is very important for him. He spent the whole season going up and down. He needs to re-establish himself as one of the guys or this organization will probably go in another direction."
Lewis, 26, has pitched in parts of four seasons for the Indians. He'll be out of options at the end of the year.
He's 3-2 with a 4.05 ERA in 26 appearances for the Tribe this year. He's struck out 18, walked 17 and allowed 25 hits in 26 2/3 innings. After giving up 13 homers last year, he's allowed one this year.
Opposing batters are hitting .253 against him.
Quick hits:
-Class AAA Columbus clinched at least a wild card spot for the International League playoffs. The playoffs start Wednesday.
That means any additional call ups for the Indians won't be coming in the immediate future.
-The Indians had 10 strikeouts and didn't allow a walk in Thursday's 6-3 victory over Seattle. It was only the ninth time in 134 games that Indians pitchers have not walked a batter this season.
It was the first time the Indians have had 10 or more strikeouts with no walks
in a game since Sept. 19, 2008 in a 6-4 victory over Detroit.
Fausto Carmona, Eddie Mujica, Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez struck out 10 that day.
-The Indians entered Friday's game with six straight victories at Safeco Field. They have not lost a series at Safeco since 2003.
-A scoring change from Aug. 22 has resulted in Detroit's Austin Jackson losing a hit, Tribe third baseman Jayson Nix getting charged with an error and rookie starter Jeanmar Gomez getting charged with only five earned runs instead of seven.
The Indians appealed the official scorer's decision to MLB and it was upheld. Nix has eight errors in 20 games at third base for the Tribe.
-Start time for Saturday's game has been moved from 7:10 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
Lineups:
Indians (54-80): CF Michael Brantley (L), SS Asdrubal Cabrera (S), RF Shin-Soo Choo (L), LF Shelley Duncan (R), 3B Jayson Nix (R), DH Matt LaPorta (R), 1B Andy Marte (R), 2B Jason Donald (R), C Lou Marson (R) and RHP Fausto Carmona (11-13, 4.19).
Mariners (52-82): RF Ichiro Suzuki (L), 2B Chone Figgins (S), CF Franklin Gutierrez (R), DH Russell Branyan (L), 3B Jose Lopez (R), 1B Casey Kotchman (L), C Adam Moore (R), LF Michael Saunders (L), SS Josh Wilson (R) and LHP Luke French (3-4, 4.13).
Umpires: H Hunter Wendelstedt, 1B Brian Runge, 2B Jerry Layne, 3B Mike Winter. Layne, crew chief.
Quote of the day: "I take my vote as a salute to the little guy, the one who doesn't hit five-hundred home runs. I was one of the guys that did all they could to win. I'm proud of my stats, but I don't think I ever got on for Joe Morgan. If I stole a base, it was to help us win a game, and I like to think that's what made me special." Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, from his induction speech into Cooperstown.
Next: RHP Mitch Talbot (8-11, 4.61) vs. RHP David Pauley (2-6, 4.26) Saturday at 7:15 p.m.