Originally published Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 12:00 AM

High-tech Matt Tuiasosopo makes M's debut

Matt Tuiasosopo, who used some high-tech savvy to get an early scouting report on New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, made his debut as a Seattle Mariner at Safeco Field on Friday night.

By Geoff Baker

Seattle Times Staff Reporter

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Matt Tuiasosopo did his own video scouting.

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Some computer savvy and ingenuity helped Matt Tuiasosopo prepare for his family's latest foray into Seattle sports lore.

The third baseman from Woodinville made his major-league debut for the Mariners on Friday night, starting at third base and batting seventh.

He went 1 for 4 with a double and a run.

Tuiasosopo's brother Zach, a former UW football player, was in the Safeco Field stands; his father, Manu, a former Seahawks lineman, couldn't make it because he was coaching a high-school football game.

Tuiasosopo, 22, was called up from Class AAA Tacoma only a few days ago, so he had little time to prepare for facing New York Yankees starter Andy Pettitte, a pitcher he'd watched from the Kingdome stands as a 9-year-old when the left-hander faced the Mariners in the American League Division Series.

With no video footage of Pettitte to watch on the team's off day, he pulled out his laptop and downloaded some YouTube files of some of the lefty's more impressive moments.

"He looked pretty nasty in those videos," Tuiasosopo said. "He was striking everyone out."

But Tuiasosopo did come away with some useful information.

"Tendencies that he might fall into," he said. "Pitches he might throw in counts. Movement on his balls."

Once Tuiasosopo arrived at the ballpark, about 1 p.m. Friday, he had more sophisticated video files to pull up.

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