Felix's whiffs: Four by arm, one by his bat

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It's a rare day when an opponent scores 14 runs in a game started by Mariners phenom Felix Hernandez.

Even without Barry Bonds in the lineup, San Francisco did that Saturday. But the drubbing took place after Hernandez worked his four innings.

The Giants teed off on Matt Thornton for five runs in the fifth and on Emiliano Fruto for five in the sixth. San Francisco scored two runs off Hernandez, but none of the five hits off him was well-struck.

"I feel great. I thought I pitched OK," said the big right-hander, who featured a diving sinker and got six of 12 outs on the ground, along with four strikeouts.

Hernandez's pitching was better than his hitting or fielding: He struck out against Giants ace Jason Schmidt and muffed a pickoff in the third.

"After I threw that ball into center, it took me a bit to get back on track," Hernandez said. He got ahead of Jason Ellison, who bounced a grounder through the left side to score San Francisco's first run. Lance Niekro later worked the count full and slapped a skidding grounder past Greg Dobbs to make it 2-1.

When Hernandez tried to hit, he admitted he hadn't batted for five years since high school in Venezuela. But Hernandez didn't want to use that as an excuse for flailing at the last two of three consecutive strikes. He held his hands two feet apart to show how far Schmidt's pitches broke, he said disgustedly, "two sliders."

Pineiro on WBC: "a great feeling"

Joel Pineiro, the first Mariner to return from the World Baseball Classic, will bring unique experience to the mound tomorrow.

"Not to take anything away from all this, because this is important," he said, waving toward the Seattle clubhouse, "but it was a great feeling, a different feeling, to pitch for Puerto Rico, to be surrounded by your countrymen."

Pineiro stayed at his family home, just 10 minutes from Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, and was chatted up by neighbors and by "people who would see you and come up to you in the street or in the grocery store, to wish you luck. It was just special."

Former Puerto Rican greats like Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez visited the team. But Pineiro said the most special moment came when "Pudge Rodriguez slapped his hand to his shirt, where it said, 'Puerto Rico,' and said, 'Let's go, and have some fun.' "

And despite being eliminated in a close game that Pineiro started against Venezuela, he said it was great fun.

"It was great for competition among the Latin countries, and I think our team surprised some people," he said.

The right-hander is ready to get to work for his Seattle team, and should be on pace to go his scheduled four innings against the Athletics.

The highlight of the WBC for Pineiro may have been walking off to a thunderous ovation from his fellow Puerto Ricans.

"I didn't know how to react, what to do, what to say," he said. "It got to me.

"I think the WBC is a success and I'd love to do it again."

Notes

• RHP Kevin Appier is walking without any indication he has a problem with the right calf he strained Friday when he broke to cover first base. His biggest problem will be staying on his pitching schedule, trying to make enough of an impression to make the Mariners or any other club. "It's slightly strained," he said. "Sunday will be a bigger day to see where we are with it."

• 2B Willie Bloomquist took live batting practice for the first time since gashing his right little finger nine days ago in a weight-room accident. If he has no problems, he is expected to play tomorrow.

• Asked if he had any advice for Hernandez, Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said: "Don't swing. Just stand there. Pitchers all love to hit. They think they can."

• 2B Fernando Vina did not make any strong first impressions in his first start of the spring, flying out in his first two at-bats, grounding out and muffing his first grounder.

• Getting another start at third, Dobbs made two steady backhand plays behind the bag. Then, with a runner in scoring position, he had a hard grounder go under his glove, scored a hit.

• Thornton entered the game with a 9.00 ERA and allowed five runs on five hits in the fifth, two on a homer by Mike Matheny.

• Ellison, one of six Pacific Northwest products on the Giants' spring roster, went 5 for 5.

Bob Finnigan: 206-464-8276 or bfinnigan@seattletimes.com

Saturday's box score

Seattle						San Francisco
	AB	R	H	BI			AB	R	H	BI
Vina 2b	3	0	0	0		Ellison lf	5	3	5	1
Cabrera 2b	1	0	0	0		Schierholtz rf	0	0	0	0
Reed cf	2	0	0	0		Linden rf-lf	6	4	3	1
Fruto p	0	0	0	0		Finley cf	3	2	2	3
Livingston p	0	0	0	0		Greene c	1	0	0	0
Santiago p	0	0	0	0		Niekro 1b	3	0	1	1
Rivera ph	1	1	1	0		Walker p	0	0	0	0
Lawton rf	3	0	0	0		Nunez ph-cf	1	1	1	2
Morban rf	1	1	1	2		Durham 2b	3	0	1	1
Sexson 1b	3	1	1	1		Frandsen pr-2b	0	2	0	1
Petagine 1b	1	0	1	0		Matheny c	4	1	2	4
Everett lf	3	0	0	0		Klink 3b	1	0	0	0
Morse lf	1	0	1	0		Chavez 3b	3	0	1	0
Dobbs 3b	4	0	0	0		Liriano p	0	0	0	0
Betancourt ss	3	0	1	0		Alfonzo ph	1	0	0	0
Ransom ss	1	0	0	0		Tejera p	0	0	0	0
Miller c	4	0	1	0		Moreno p	0	0	0	0
Hernandez p	1	0	0	0		Delarosa ss	4	1	2	0
Choo ph	1	0	0	0		Wald ph-ss	1	0	1	0
Thornton p	0	0	0	0		Schmidt p	1	0	0	0
Jones cf	1	0	0	0		VnSchell ph-1b	3	0	0	0
Totals	34	3	7	3		Totals	40	14	19	14

Seattle	010 000 002	—	3
San Francisco	002 055 20x	—	14

E — Vina, Hernandez, Von Schell. DP — Seattle 2, San Francisco 1. LOB — Seattle 5, San Francisco 10. 2B — Rivera, Delarosa, Ellison, Finley 2, Matheny, Wald. 3B — Linden. HR — Sexson, Morban, Matheny. SB — Reed. CS — Ellison. S — Schmidt. SF — Frandsen.

Mariners	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Hernandez, L	4	5	2	2	1	4
Thornton	1	6	5	5	0	1
Fruto	0	5	5	5	2	0
Livingston	2	2	2	2	2	0
Santiago	1	1	0	0	0	2

Giants	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Schmidt, W	5	3	1	1	1	3
Walker	1	0	0	0	0	0
Liriano	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tejera	1	0	0	0	0	0
Moreno	1	4	2	2	0	1

HBP — by Santiago (Schierholtz). WP — Hernandez 2, Fruto, Santiago. PB — Matheny. T — 2:54. A.