Swift hit by line drive, suffers bruised muscle

Seattle Mariners righthander Billy Swift of South Portland said he was a “little stiff” after suffering a bruised right pectoral muscle courtesy of a line drive off the bat of Anaheim rookie Justin Baughman in the second inning of Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss.

“It’s black and blue and it’s in a bad spot. It’s in the armpit,” said Swift, who was removed after the second inning.

He absorbed the loss, but the 36-year-old Swift, who has battled one injury after another over the last three seasons, is still the winningest pitcher on the Mariner staff.

He is 6-4 with a 4.54 earned run average in 13 outings. He has won four of his last five decisions. Until Tuesday’s setback, the former University of Maine All-American hadn’t lost since May 16. Swift has fanned 36 and walked 21 in 69 1/3 innings while allowing 80 hits.

“I’ve been a little surprised. I’m throwing a lot better than I thought I would,” said Swift.

He said a mechanical adjustment in his delivery has been a key to his recent success.

“I had been opening up too soon, so my slider was going too far outside to righties and I had trouble controlling my sinker. I didn’t feel comfortable,” said Swift. “I looked at a couple of tapes and I’ve got things going good now. I’ve made my delivery more compact and I’ve been keeping my weight back.”

“I’ve been working ahead in the count more and that makes a big difference,” said Swift, on the disabled list a year ago for the 13th time in his career with five small tears in his pectoral muscle. “My velocity has been between 85 and 89 miles an hour and my arm has felt great. It’s nice to be able to pitch.”

Seattle manager Lou Piniella said he has been pleased with Swift’s performance so far.

“He has pitched very well for us. He has given us a chance to win just about every game he’s pitched. We’ve given him the proper rest and have watched his pitch count,” said Piniella, who keeps Swift below 100 pitches in his starts and has him start every fifth game.