Mariners | Pitching stars to align at Fenway

CLEVELAND — A mini-swarm of Japanese media types converging on Felix Hernandez on Monday could only mean a couple of things.

The first is that a scheduled doubleheader between the Mariners and Cleveland Indians had been called off yet again, due to snowy conditions, since Hernandez was to work the nightcap and does not talk to media members on the day he pitches. More importantly for fans of baseball, it meant that Hernandez's scheduled outing had been pushed back another 48 hours to Wednesday night at Fenway Park in Boston.

And that means a highly-anticipated mound clash between Hernandez and Japanese ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, who will make his Fenway debut for the Red Sox.

Hernandez, who turned 21 on Sunday, is coming off a 12-strikeout performance in the season opener eight days ago while Matsuzaka fanned 10 in his debut.

"It's going to be a fun game because everybody will be looking at Matsuzaka," Hernandez said as the Mariners packed for their afternoon flight to Boston, having seen all four games in Cleveland scratched due to snowy, frigid weather. "He's a very good pitcher. He has to do his job and I have to do my job. It's going to be a great game."

The Mariners are hoping there will be a game in Boston, where the weather is expected to be warmer than Cleveland, but also wet. Seattle hasn't played in five days, but manager Mike Hargrove is keeping his rotation in order for now and will send Jeff Weaver to the mound today against Josh Beckett in the Red Sox's home opener.

That decision left Hernandez for Wednesday night's contest. Hernandez said he's never had a nine-day layoff between starts.

"It's a lot of days of rest," he said. "A lot of days."

But Hargrove is also counting heavily on Weaver this season and knows he hasn't pitched since a March 31 exhibition game in Las Vegas. Hargrove says he isn't worried about the impact of such a long layoff on the less-experienced Hernandez.

"I'm not worried about him more than any other pitcher," he said.

The disastrous weekend in Cleveland, capped Monday when snow kept falling and midday wind chills remained in the 20s, led to a three-game series between the Indians and Angels being moved to Milwaukee. Snow removal crews had cleared portions of the outfield at Jacobs Field, but the snow remained 12 to 18 inches deep in several places.

As for making up the four games lost this past weekend, the most likely scenario will see the teams play two doubleheaders in Cleveland on common off-days.

Likely dates are May 11, when Seattle was to fly to Florida for a series with the Devil Rays beginning May 12, and the second doubleheader on June 11 as the Mariners fly from San Diego to Chicago for a series with the Cubs that begins the following day.

As for now, the Mariners simply hope to avoid more bad weather in Boston. Hernandez knows he's walking into a media frenzy there and will be in a hostile stadium .

Such big-game situations weren't always handled well by Hernandez last season, when nerves got the better of him. The Yankees pounded him for seven runs over 4-2/3 innings at Safeco Field last Aug. 23.

Barry Bonds and the Giants smacked three home runs off Hernandez on June 14. The defending World Series champion White Sox knocked him out after just five innings of a May 4 game at Chicago.

But Hernandez insists he's learned from those experiences.

"The preparation is mental," he said. "You have to be prepared to go out there and do the same things you usually do. You have to throw strikes. When you throw strikes, things happen."

He'll also have to try not to be too overpowering. "I don't like to feel too strong," Hernandez said. "I just like to feel the same way that I always am with my arm."

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com.

Read his daily blog at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners