Today’s game
Opponent: Anaheim Angels
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: Fox Sports Net (cable)
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle right-hander Joel Pineiro (16-11, 3.78 earned run average in 2003) vs. left-hander Jarrod Washburn (10-15, 4.43).
Spiezio gets good news: The Mariners finally got the medical opinion they’ve been waiting to hear on third baseman Scott Spiezio’s bad back.
After different doctors in Arizona last week suggested he has a major disc injury that might require surgery, the team learned from a Seattle specialist Tuesday that his injury is confined more to the muscle and that his recovery period won’t be as long as originally feared.
"We were looking at an extensive period," manager Bob Melvin said. "I can’t pinpoint the timetable, but it’s more in the weeks than months. We were prepared for the worst and got some very good news."
Spiezio injured his back in a spring training game March 25 when he stepped awkwardly on the pitcher’s mound as he moved under a popup. He tried to play in a game two days later but experienced pain while running to first base.
He went on the 15-day disabled list Saturday, retroactive to March 28, although the Mariners have no idea when he’ll be able to play.
"That’s hard for them to do because it is a muscle thing," Spiezio said. "Everybody recovers at different rates.
"I haven’t tested it for a week now and I don’t know what I can or can’t do. I’m feeling better in general. But I haven’t been running, which is the biggest cause of the pain."
Spiezio said the possibility of surgery had been mentioned by doctors who examined him in Arizona.
"Not right off the bat, but it was brought up," he said. "It’s frightening when you’re talking about your spine and your spinal cord. This news was way better."
Nobody was more relieved to hear it than Spiezio, although Melvin was a close second.
"What we were hearing before, we were plugging our ears and really not wanting to hear it," Melvin said.
Norm’s return: Norm Charlton threw one last pitch and twirled his glove a final time Tuesday.
The former Mariners relief pitcher, finally forced into retirement by a third shoulder surgery less than two months ago, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The 41-year-old Charlton threw a soft strike to catcher Dan Wilson and walked back to the Mariners dugout, but not before taking the glove off his right hand and spinning it on his fingers, as he did in nearly every game he pitched in his 14-year major league career.
Packing the house: Tuesday’s sellout crowd of 46,142 was the fourth largest in Safeco Field history. The stadium record is 46,219 on Aug. 3, 2002, when the Mariners played the Cleveland Indians. Tuesday’s was the largest crowd for a season opener at Safeco.
Welcome back: Tuesday marked the return of two former Mariners, left fielder Raul Ibanez and relief pitcher Ron Villone.
Ibanez, who came up through the Mariners’ minor league system before signing with the Royals after the 2000 season, became the 21st different player in the last 28 years to start in left field for the Mariners on opening day.
Villone, a journeyman left-hander who was the Mariners’ first-round draft pick in 1992, had pitched in every National and American League ballpark except Safeco Field. He added that one to his list Tuesday when he pitched the final 1 1/3 innings against the Angels.
Kirby Arnold
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