Game off, although Pineda gets in some important work

When the sky is the same color as the tarp covering the field — and just as wet — baseball must wait.
For the Mariners, it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

Today’s game between the Mariners and Reds in Goodyear has been called off, the product of rain that started at mid-morning and isn’

t expected to quit until tonight.

From a good-news standpoint, the Mariners looked at the forecast and made the decision early to have Michael Pineda pitch in a morning minor league game, and he got in 72 pitches worth of good work. He held the Royals’ Class AAA team to two hits and one earned run in five innings, striking out four and walking one. Of those 72 pitches, 48 were strikes.

Great decision having Pineda pitch this morning because nobody was going to get any work done this afternoon. If the Mariners can keep making the right calls the next seven months, it’ll be a great season.

Here are a couple other pitching reports on major leaguers who worked on the minor league side this morning before the heavy stuff came down:

• Left-hander Aaron Laffey threw 41 pitches, 30 of them strikes, in three innings against the Royals Class AA team. He allowed hit and one unearned run with no walks and four strikeouts. He struck out the side in the first inning, pitched a 1-2-3 second and, after a hit, stolen base and error, allowed a run on a ground out in the third.

• In the same game, right-handed reliever Josh Lueke allowed two hits but no runs in one inning. He threw 21 pitches, 12 strikes.