Pineiro dazzles again for M's

So is this the place?

Is this where a once-Grade A prospect with a live arm and tons of athletic potential finally puts the pieces together?

Joel Pineiro delivered his second straight stellar outing Saturday night, this time a brisk four-hit, eight-inning performance against the Cleveland Indians, marred only by a leadoff home run by Everett native Grady Sizemore.

The Mariners right-hander struck out a season-high six and set down 17 batters in a row between the second and eighth innings, leading Seattle to a 4-1 victory before 28,672 at Safeco Field.

It was the quickest game of the season for the Mariners: 2 hours, 10 minutes. J.J. Putz pitched a relatively pain-free ninth for his third save.

"I want to have that trust from [my teammates]," Pineiro said. " 'Here's the ball. Go out there and shut them down.' Yeah, I want them to feel that way."

Back in 2000, Pineiro was a top prospect who threw consecutive complete-game shutouts for Class AAA Tacoma.

But after a promising start to his major-league career — a 37-20 record in his first four seasons — Pineiro is suddenly a 27-year-old veteran who has stumbled through two consecutive losing years.

After Saturday's win, Pineiro (4-2, 3.72 earned-run average) has not allowed a walk in 18 consecutive innings. He tossed a complete-game nine-hitter to beat the Minnesota Twins 8-2 on May 1.

"I've seen a growth in him since I first saw him as an opponent," said Mariners manager Mike Hargrove, ejected in the top of the third inning for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout.

"Early in his career, he was more emotional out there," Hargrove said. "He didn't seem to have as much control over his emotions as he does now. That hurt him when he was a younger player."

As an example, Pineiro said Sizemore's leadoff homer probably would have affected him a lot more as a younger player.

"I just kind of regrouped and said, 'All right, relax and keep the ball down,' " Pineiro said. "I'm pretty sure that's where the maturity comes up. That's not going to beat you. That happened, that's over with."

Pineiro said his sinker has been his most effective pitch in his past two starts.

The Mariners' offense, meanwhile, beat nemesis Cliff Lee (2-3) with a three-run, four-hit outburst in the fourth inning. Lee had been 5-0 in six previous career starts against Seattle.

The Mariners' scoring barrage started with back-to-back singles by Richie Sexson and Carl Everett to open the inning.

Adrian Beltre then doubled into the left-center-field gap, scoring Sexson easily. Third-base coach Carlos Garcia waved Everett home, successfully, all the way from first base.

Kenji Johjima, up next, sliced a single into right field and Garcia again forced the issue, waving in Beltre, whose right toe grazed home plate just before Cleveland catcher Victor Martinez applied the tag.

Hargrove said Beltre is "quietly" rediscovering his swing after putting in long hours in the batting cage with hitting coach Jeff Pentland. Beltre said he sees it too.

"I'm just feeling more comfortable mentally," Beltre said. "I'm not thinking too much, which is one of the things that really screwed me up a lot. Forget about all the bad stuff, and see the ball and hit it."

The Mariners added their fourth run in the bottom of the seventh inning. In a resilient nine-pitch at-bat, Raul Ibanez pounded a double into the right-center-field gap, scoring Ichiro, who had earlier reached base on a single.

Hargrove wasn't the only Mariners coach to be ejected. First-base coach Mike Goff was thrown out of the game after the seventh inning for arguing a check-swing strikeout call on Sexson.

Michael Ko: 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com