Mike Napoli is back and manager Ron Washington will try to split playing time evenly between Napoli and Geovany Soto at catcher.
Soto will be paired with Yu Darvish the rest of the season, but that will be the only set battery combination, Washington said.
Soto has worked well with Darvish, who has gone 3-0 with a 1.55 ERA in his last four starts with Soto behind the plate.
Napoli, meanwhile, is coming back after spending more than a month on the disabled list with a strained left quad.
Napoli said he will still have to be cautious of his quad on the base paths, but can run at an adequate pace. As he said, "I'm not a burner."
Napoli went on to say he felt OK at the plate. He has struggled offensively for most of the season, and finished his rehab assignment with the dreaded 'golden sombrero,' going 0 for 4 with four strikeouts.
Napoli joked that he left all the strikeouts at Frisco, and is hoping to make an impact as the stretch drive enters its final weeks.
Here are a few other pregame notes:
* Joe Nathan and Mike Adams are both unavailable tonight. Nathan said he needed one more day of rest, and Adams is still recovering from a tight right trap. Nathan should be ready to go on Sunday, while Adams said he wouldn't be ready until Tuesday at the earliest.
* Jurickson Profar makes his first career start at shortstop tonight, and is hoping to get a few groundballs. He was a late-inning replacement at short on Friday, but didn't make a play. Profar will also be batting from the right side for the first time as a professional, as the Mariners have lefty Jason Vargas starting tonight.
* Roy Oswalt, sidelined with a strained right forearm, played long toss on Saturday afternoon and said everything "felt pretty good." Oswalt will throw again Sunday, take Monday off and is planning to throw a bullpen session Tuesday.
-- Drew Davison


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