Suzuki back in the Mariners’ lineup

SEATTLE (AP) - Ichiro Suzuki is back from his first trip to the disabled list, making the surprising Seattle Mariners more formidable _ and more interesting.

Suzuki was listed in his usual leadoff spot and playing right field for the Mariners on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Angels, after saying he felt so good he was “annoyed.”

Last week he joked he was getting reports while on the DL that fellow star Ken Griffey Jr. “is not threatening to me, that’s what I heard,” while the 39-year-old slugger filled in for Suzuki in right field.

The eight-time All Star and eight-time Gold Glove outfielder entered Wednesday two hits from tying Isao Harimoto for most career hits by Japanese player (3,085).

Suzuki had 1,278 hits in nine seasons with Orix of the Japanese Pacific League and entered Wednesday with 1,805 in eight seasons with the Mariners. Harimoto played 23 seasons with the Toei Flyers (who later became the Nippon Ham Fighters), Yomiuri and Lotte.

The record is a big deal in Japan, so big a television network there flew Harimoto to Seattle so he could attend Wednesday’s game.

Suzuki, 35, went on the 15-day DL after he was diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer that caused him to miss the final days of spring training. The ulcer had stopped bleeding by the time Suzuki was diagnosed, but severe fatigue forced the move to give Suzuki rest, against his wishes.

Seattle was off to a 6-2 start without him and had won five in a row entering Wednesday.

To make room for Suzuki, Seattle placed left-handed starter Ryan Rowland-Smith on the 15-day DL with triceps tendinitis, retroactive to April 11. The frustrated Rowland-Smith said he stopped having full range of motion in his throwing arm Monday.

He was scheduled to start Thursday against the Angels, but right-hander Chris Jakubauskas, a 29-year-old native of Anaheim, Calif., will get a promotion from Seattle’s bullpen to make his first career start instead.

The 68-year-old Harimoto said he isn’t happy Suzuki is about to break his record that he thought no one would reach, but he has accepted it.

There are debates in Japan whether Suzuki will own the “true” Japanese record for hits because more than half his total is while playing in the United Sates, but Harimoto believes Suzuki will own the true record.

“He said he told me 15 years ago he would probably break my record,” Harimoto said through interpreter Takanao Ishii, while watching Suzuki take batting practice Wednesday afternoon.

“Ichiro remembers that. I don’t remember that,” he joked.

Harimoto played against Willie Mays during an offseason tour of Japan by major league players half a century ago, calling Mays the greatest player he ever saw. He said there is a big reason Suzuki reached his hits record in six fewer seasons than Harimoto took to set it: he noted major league pitchers still pitch to Suzuki “even on a day he gets five hits.”

Harimoto said once he got two hits in a game, Japanese pitchers walked him _ or threw at his head.

Last week, Suzuki said of the Harimoto’s record: “Ever since I got sick I haven’t been thinking about it, but people always ask me about it.”

Suzuki said he looked forward to setting the record, but added, “it is only two more hits, so I can’t really make that a goal of mine.”

Jakubauskas, a non-roster surprise from spring training, was at Double-A West Tennessee this time last year, taking 13-hour bus rides for road games. He began his professional career earning $700 a month pitching for Florence, Ky., of the Frontier League and spent four seasons in the Independent Leagues.

One was for the Ohio Valley Redcoats. They didn’t have a home stadium in 2005, so they played 90-plus games on the road.

He supplemented his meager Independent League salaries in winters by laying concrete, processing home loans for a bank _ and selling women’s shoes at a Nordstrom’s department store in Montclair, Calif.

“It was pretty lucrative, but obviously it wasn’t what I wanted to do long term,” he said.