Mariners
Pineiro puts Angels out

By Bob Sherwin
Seattle Times staff reporter

MARK HARRISON / THE TIMES Scott Spiezio catches the throw from Miguel Olivo before tagging out Jose Molina trying to return to third base in the eighth inning.

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You can never have too much pitching. But what comes with it is too much anxiety over pitching.

Pitchers can be fragile, as the Mariners have experienced over the past few years with labrum tears and elbow-tendon transplants to most of their best prospects. So when Joel Pineiro, their ace in residence, left yesterday's 6-2 win over Anaheim with soreness in his elbow, it climbed up the concern chart.

"You never know with pitchers," pitching coach Bryan Price said. "You hate to sit there and throw up a red flag and say this is a huge event, when it could be just a common event."

Whether this one is uncommon is uncertain. The club wants to look at him today to make sure. It's believed he was to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging last night or today.

"It was a changeup I threw (in the eighth inning), and the elbow felt a little tight," said Pineiro, who grimaced after each of his final three pitches in the inning and at one point held his elbow. "It was a cramp or something like that. I just iced it. We'll see how it feels (today). I'm not concerned. I didn't feel a pop or anything."

However, he doesn't have the final diagnosis. It will depend on what the medical staff sees. If it's the worst case, such as tendon-transplant surgery, he would be sidelined 12 to 18 months. That would be a huge blow to the club that already shipped off its erstwhile ace, Freddy Garcia, in a trade.

Mariners update Winning pitcher: Joel Pineiro (6-11) Losing pitcher: Ramon Ortiz (3-6) Key to the game: Bucky Jacobsen and Dave Hansen homered to back Pineiro, who gave up five hits and one run in eight innings. Jacobsen's homer was his fourth in nine major-league games. Tonight: Seattle at Oakland, 7:05 p.m. FSN/KOMO 1000 AM Starting pitchers: M's Travis Blackley (3-8) vs. Barry Zito (5-7)

It would leave a staff with 41-year-old Jamie Moyer and mostly a bunch of candidates nearly half his age. The door would be open again for more starter tryouts among Tacoma Rainiers pitchers such as Gil Meche, Matt Thornton or Clint Nageotte. It might also mean that any trade talks involving Meche or left-hander Ron Villone might not be prudent.

Pineiro (6-11), who already has had a tough-luck season, displayed the value of his right arm before his distressing departure. He threw 114 pitches in eight innings, allowed five hits and one run, walked none and struck out seven.

"Joel was outstanding against a team that has given us a little trouble," Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. "He was quick and efficient."

Pineiro was supported by two big home runs: Dave Hansen's two-run blast in the second and Bucky Jacobsen's solo shot in the seventh, Jacobsen's fourth homer in nine major-league games. The Mariners scored two more in the eighth as the result of four wild pitches by Angels reliever Kevin Gregg, tying the major-league regular-season record for wild pitches in an inning.

Hansen, who hasn't been on the field often this season, started at first base. He provided a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a slicing home run off starter Ramon Ortiz (3-6) that hit the outside of the right-field foul pole.

"I was talking to it," Hansen said. "It listened just enough to hit the pole."

Melvin, who would like to give Hansen more playing time, said, "Everywhere we put him, in every situation, he comes up big for us. He knows what it takes to keep himself ready. That's a real professional there."

Hansen, 35, said it's not a matter of choice.

"I have to do it or I won't be able to have a game plan," the 13th-year veteran said. "It's a lot of years of failures involved there. It's a trial and error of what works and what doesn't."

The Angels' Jose Guillen made it 2-1 in the fourth inning with his 18th home run.

The Angels, down 3-1 in the eighth, were thwarted by the Mariners' defensive gems on the corners. With Jose Molina on third and one out, David Eckstein ripped a one-hopper just inside the third-base line. Scott Spiezio snagged it on a quick dive, and Molina was tagged out in a rundown.

"I was up (on the grass) because I know (Angels manager Mike) Scioscia likes to do crazy stuff, especially with Eckstein," said Spiezio, who played for Scioscia in Anaheim. "I didn't know if he would try to squeeze or something. I played the line because Eck hits a lot of balls down the line. I made it look a little harder than it probably was."

The inning ended with Hansen diving to his right to snare a rocket by Chone Figgins.

The Mariners are 6-5, 11 days into a 25-day stretch in which they play 25 games. They begin a four-city road trip tonight at Oakland. That three-game set will be followed by series at Anaheim, Baltimore and Tampa Bay before returning here Aug. 10.

The Mariners have lost 12 straight on the road.

Their biggest concern, however, is making sure Pineiro comes along with them.

Bob Sherwin: 206-464-8286 or bsherwin@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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