Ackley to bat seventh in his debut

The big news is out. Dustin Ackley will bat seventh and play second base tonight in his Major League debut against the Phillies.

Manager Eric Wedge will slide the rookie into a lower spot in the lineup, as expected, as he faces Roy Oswalt right out of the gate.

Wedge kept Adam Kennedy in the lineup by putting him at designated hitter, which means no Mike Carp or Jack Cust tonight. Carlos Peguero is in left field and batting fifth.

This is a different lineup and not just because of Ackley’s presence. Justin Smoak will bat cleanup for the first time and Franklin Gutierrez is hitting ninth.

And, yes, Chone Figgins — who actually has been hitting better recently — remains in the lineup at third base. Figgins has hit .290 with five walks over hsi past 10 games with a .389 on-base percentage.

Ackley will be made available to the media at 3:25 p.m. prior to batting practice, so we’ll update with his thoughts as well as Wedge’s plans for him on Mariners.com later this afternoon.

Here’s the full Mariner lineup:

51  Ichiro Suzuki (L)     RF
26  Brendan Ryan          SS
4  Adam Kennedy (L)      DH
17  Justin Smoak (S)      1B
8  Carlos Peguero (L)    LF
30  Miguel Olivo          C
13  Dustin Ackley (L)     2B
9  Chone Figgins (S)     3B
21  Franklin Gutierrez    CF

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36  Michael Pineda        RHP