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M’S SPRING TRAINING

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, March 25, 2004

A daily look at the Mariners in spring training:

  • Mariners vs. San Francisco Giants, 12:05 p.m. (PST)

  • Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)

  • Pitchers: Left-hander Jamie Moyer will pitch the first six innings for the Mariners, followed by right-handers Julio Mateo and Shigetoshi Hasegawa.

  • Bob Melvin wasn’t interested in the numbers. All he wanted was for right-handed relief pitcher Rafael Soriano to walk off the mound healthy.

    Melvin and the Mariners got that wish when Soriano gave up four hits and two runs in one inning in the Mariners’ 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers.

    “We just wanted him to get on the mound, throw his pitches and get out of there healthy,” Melvin said. “Next time is a different story. This was a big one just to get him through a healthy inning.”

    Soriano strained the internal oblique muscle in his left side during the first week of spring training and spent a month working his way back to the mound. He faced six hitters Thursday and threw nothing but fastballs and sliders.

    His fastball, typically in the mid to upper 90 mph range, was clocked at 92. He is scheduled to throw an inning Sunday against the Diamondbacks, two innings next Wednesday against Oakland and one inning April 4 against the Padres.

    “I was looking forward to today. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen hitters,” Soriano said. “Even if I gave up six runs, it wouldn’t matter.”

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  • There are no major health issues.

  • “The only thing we have to worry about is what our address is going to be and where we’re going to set up our living arrangements.”

    Ron Villone, one of the three left-handed pitchers – along with Terry Mulholland and Mike Myers – who are performing well but realize the Mariners will take no more than two of them for the bullpen.

  • There was hardly a more welcome sight around the complex Thursday than that of a healthy Tom Reardon, the popular guard outside the Mariners’ clubhouse at Safeco Field.

    Reardon was critically injured last Sept. 21 in a motorcycle accident and spent weeks in the hospital fighting for his life. He had promised his wife before the accident that he would take her to spring training, and that became part of his mission in recovery.

    Thursday, Reardon enjoyed baseball and sunshine at Peoria Stadium, and said he would return to his post at Safeco for the opener April 6.

    Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer

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