R.A. Dickey's the ticket in 8-5 win over Texas

ARLINGTON, Texas — It was a fortunate bit of timing, both for the guy on the mound and his ballclub.

Mariners starter R.A. Dickey trotted out for Thursday night's game with his team reeling from some recent abbreviated starts and also short a bullpen arm after the morning trade of Arthur Rhodes. Not only that, but the arm headed back to the bullpen once a roster move is made today could very well be the knuckleball specialist.

Dickey gave everyone pause to think twice about that, shutting down his former Texas Rangers squad for nearly eight innings before his bullpen held on for an 8-5 win and split of this four-game series.

"Realistically, I feel like every time I go out there, it's like that," Dickey said of the need to pick up innings for the team. "I'm glad that I'm physically able, with that pitch I throw, to be able to do that."

The innings Dickey provides with a knuckleball could very well help keep him in the rotation. The coming roster move to replace Rhodes will likely see either left-handed starter Ryan Rowland-Smith or right-handed reliever Jared Wells recalled from Class AAA Tacoma.

Cesar Jimenez is still in the bullpen to handle some left-handed hitters. But the team would be better suited with either Rowland-Smith or Dickey — whose knuckler is effective against lefties — back in the bullpen instead.

With Rowland-Smith being groomed as a starter, Dickey could be bullpen-bound. Or, the team could put Rowland-Smith into long relief, with a spot start here and there.

Dickey got plenty of breathing room in this one as the Mariners — who drew eight walks off some sloppy pitching — scored twice in each of the first two innings against erratic Texas starter Matt Harrison. Ichiro tripled and doubled his first two times up, while Adrian Beltre slugged a two-run homer in the eighth off reliever Dustin Nippert to make it an 8-0 game.

Jose Lopez's single in the seventh extended his hitting streak to a career-high 18 games.

The Rangers finally got on the board in the eighth when Ramon Vazquez took Dickey deep to right field for a two-run homer. Texas made it interesting in the ninth, with three straight hits and a run off Mark Lowe, then a two-run double to right-center by Frank Catalanotto off J.J. Putz.

But Putz got Michael Young to line out to right, then struck out the dangerous Josh Hamilton on a fastball low and away to end the game.

For Dickey, his return to Rangers Ballpark went a lot better than his final act here back on April 6, 2006. In what would be his first start of that season and last in the big leagues until this year, Dickey tied a modern-day record by yielding six home runs in just 3-1/3 innings to the Detroit Tigers.

Interestingly, the two pitchers he shares the record with are fellow knuckleballers Tim Wakefield and Charlie Hough.

"It's mainly personally satisfying," he said of Thursday night's return. "It's not like I have any type of vendetta against the Rangers for not keeping me here. But it is satisfying for me, because the last time I was on this field, things didn't go so well."

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com.

Read his daily blog at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners

For the record

Streak: W1

Home: 20-32

Road: 21-35

vs. AL West: 13-19

vs. L.A.: 3-6

vs. Oakland: 4-5

vs. Texas: 6-8

vs. AL East: 11-23

vs. AL Cent.: 8-16

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 11-21

vs. RHP: 30-46

Day: 12-23

Night: 29-44

One-run: 11-22

Extra inn.: 2-6