Felix will take next turn Saturday vs. Angels

KANSAS CITY - Mariners ace Felix Hernandez came out of his first throwing session without any problems after experiencing some elbow tightness in Sunday's start against Texas, but his next outing will come on Saturday against the Angels instead of Friday, as originally announced.

Manager Lloyd McClendon said the change was merely the result of a mistake on his part as to when Hernandez was scheduled to go and the plan had been Saturday all along.

Hernandez could have pitched Friday on his normal four days' rest, but will instead get an extra day and then pitch one final game in the final regular season series against the A's at Safeco Field. Either way, he was going to get two more starts, which is all Hernandez is worried about.

"Whatever he says, I'll be ready," said Hernandez, who is 18-9 with a 3.54 ERA on the year and would love to get to 20 wins for the first time in his career.

McClendon still hasn't settled on who'll start Friday's series opener against the Angels. The choice presumably comes down to spot starter Vidal Nuno or young right-hander Taijuan Walker. The Mariners are being cautious with Walker's workload as he's already thrown a career-high 169 2/3 innings.

Walker hasn't pitched since Sept. 14, but he has continued to do his pregame work routine and says he's ready to go if needed.

Veteran right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma will start Sunday's game against the Angels, as scheduled all along.

The Angels will go with right-hander Garrett Richards on Friday, lefty Andrew Heaney on Saturday and right-hander Jered Weaver on Sunday.

Worth noting
• First baseman Logan Morrison rejoined the Mariners on Wednesday after flying to Seattle to be with his wife, Christie, for the birth of their first child on Tuesday. Ily Morrison was born at 5:45 a.m. PT on Tuesday after Morrison had flown home on Monday night on the club's off-day.

"It's a pretty crazy feeling to hold your daughter for the first time," Morrison said. "Everybody was telling me you're going to be over the moon or 'I can't even tell you the feeling you're going to get.' And they're right. It was pretty cool. I thought hitting homers was the coolest thing. This is a little cooler."