SEATTLE – Backed by an offense that left him little choice but to make every pitch perfect, Joel Pineiro came close Wednesday.
This season, coming close means you lose.
Pineiro made just one ill-placed pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays, a thigh-high slider that Josh Phelps hit for a grand-slam home run in the second inning as the Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 5-3 at Safeco Field.
“We left more guys on base and they ended up getting one big hit with the bases loaded,” manager Bob Melvin said. “That ended up being the difference.”
Pineiro allowed four hits and a squeeze bunt the rest of the game, showing that he has put his early season problems well behind him. Of course, it hasn’t shown in his record, which dipped to 1-7.
“In a lot of his starts this year he’s thrown the ball very well and it’s either been one big inning or two-out hits,” Melvin said. “We’ve got to find a way to get past that. He ended up giving up a grand slam and that’s basically the game. Other than that, he threw very well.”
The Mariners probably lost a lot more than another game in the standings – where they remain last in the American League West, 13 games behind Anaheim.
Left fielder Raul Ibanez, who leads the team with 11 home runs, strained his right hamstring and left the game after beating out an infield single in the second inning. Ibanez will be examined today, but Melvin already was talking about dipping again into the minor leagues for a replacement.
“It sounds to me that it would be a borderline miracle if it’s not a 15-day DL,” Melvin said. “He’s the one power source that we have right now, and if there’s one guy we can’t afford to lose, it’s him.”
Melvin probably will use Jolbert Cabrera, Willie Bloomquist and Hiram Bocachica (who was called up Thursday after pitcher Gil Meche was sent to Class AAA Tacoma) in left field while Ibanez is out. Infielder Ramon Santiago, who played a short time with the Mariners last month, is considered the leading candidate to be recalled.
“There’s a few guys down there, but we’ll have to see what’s the best fit,” Melvin said. “We’ll have the off day to think about it.”
He’ll also dwell on the one poor inning that cost Pineiro the game.
Pineiro wobbled only in the second when Vernon Wells and Greg Zaun hit back-to-back singles and Chris Gomez walked to load the bases. Pineiro struck out Howie Clark, but he fell behind Phelps 2-0 and tried to bend a slider past him.
Instead, Pineiro left it over the plate and Phelps launched a high fly into the right field seats for a 4-0 Blue Jays lead.
The Jays added another run in the fourth when Zaun doubled, went to third on Gomez’s grounder to first and scored when Clark dropped a squeeze bunt back to Pineiro.
Blue Jays starter Ted Lilly, not exactly a Mariner killer with a 1-5 record and a 6.31 ERA in 12 career appearances, pitched 61/3 innings and gave up seven hits. Only two burned him, Dan Wilson’s RBI single in the fourth that made the score 5-1 and Rich Aurilia’s leadoff homer in the sixth.
The M’s had their own bases-loaded opportunity with one out in the bottom of the second, but Lilly struck out Wilson and got Bloomquist on a popup to shallow right.
The Mariners scored their final run in the ninth off Toronto right-hander Kerry Lightenberg. Ichiro Suzuki led off with a single, his second hit of the game, and scored on pinch hitter Dave Hansen’s two-out single to center.
Lightenberg struck out Bret Boone to end the game and extend Boone’s offensive misery.
He is hitless in his last 15 at-bats and struck out in his final three at-bats, all with runners on base.
“He’s struggling, but for a guy who is an elite player, it’s a little more magnified,” Melvin said. “You’ve got to keep battling.”
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