Joel Pineiro couldn’t have felt better warming up, couldn’t have been happier once the game started and he saw how hitters reacted to his pitches.
So why did he give up 12 hits in six innings and take his third loss of the year?
“I can’t figure it out,” Pineiro said. “I won’t find better stuff than I had. I feel too good not to be winning games.”
Of those 12 hits, 11 were singles. So, it wasn’t as if he hung pitches the Orioles knocked out of the park. It wasn’t as if he controlled the game, either.
“None of us know what’s wrong,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Bryan Price and I were watching and shaking our heads. They got a bunch of hits against good pitches.”
Next outing, Melvin and Price will revisit one suggestion they’ve made before, and one Pineiro has yet to grasp.
“We want him to pitch inside more, and up above the belt inside,” Melvin said. “So many of his pitches go down and away from hitters, they tend to start leaning out there. He’s got to straighten them up, work inside more.
“Part of this is a by-product of what’s happening to the whole team. We have the ability, we have the right players in the right spots, we’re just not getting the job done.”
Pineiro had his highest velocity of the season Thursday, hitting 95 mph a handful of times.
“What’s happened is just incredible,” Pineiro said. “No one in this clubhouse can believe what’s happened this month. Seven wins – for the whole team? I made some mistakes today, but I didn’t pitch that badly.
“We didn’t play that badly. We just pitched and played poorly enough to lose.”
Scare of the day: It came in the eighth inning Thursday when Rafael Palmeiro’s throw to second base glanced off the helmet of baserunner Ichiro Suzuki – and hit Baltimore shortstop Miguel Tejada in the face. X-rays showed no fracture, and Tejada is day-to-day in availability.
Changing places: The Mariners recalled right-handed J.J. Putz before the game Thursday and sent lefty Matt Thornton back to the Tacoma Rainiers. Thornton’s two games of major league experience included a pair of get-ready-to-go-in warmups, but no appearances.
“I got those butterflies out of my system,” Thornton said. “Next time, I’ll only have them once I actually get in a game.”
Thornton will rejoin Tacoma in Salt Lake and likely start the game Sunday
for the Rainiers.
Around the horn: Why are the Mariners losing? Here’s a reason: In 11 of their 22 games, they never had a lead. … After getting four hits in their loss Wednesday – all singles – Seattle had just five hits on Thursday, including two doubles. … Bret Boone’s 14 RBI lead the Mariners by four. If he were an Oriole, that total would rank him third on the team. … Cleanup hitter Edgar Martinez had a tough afternoon Thursday. With two on and one out in the first inning, he grounded into a double play, then struck out with a runner on third base in the eighth inning. All told, he went 0-for-4 and is batting .289. … Jolbert Cabrera started at first base for John Olerud against left-handed pitcher Eric DuBose and went 2-for-4. … Dave Hansen pinch-hit for Ben Davis in the ninth inning, his seventh pinch-hit at-bat of the year. He lined out for the third time, and has two hits, including a home run.
Larry LaRue, The News Tribune
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