Opponent: Tampa Bay Devil Rays
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: Fox Sports Net
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle left-hander Ron Villone (4-4, 4.35 earned run average) vs. right-hander Jorge Sosa (3-3, 5.72).
Throwing again
Joel Pineiro seems headed toward baseball in October, although it’ll be in a place he never imagined when this season started.
Mariners manager Bob Melvin said Pineiro, who played catch Tuesday for the first time since going on the disabled list July 26 with a strained muscle near his right elbow, probably will pitch in the Arizona Fall League. The league, primarily for young minor leaguers, runs from early October through late November.
Melvin doubts Pineiro will pitch for the Mariners this season, even though he could be ready by late September.
“We may do something along the instructional league lines, just to get him a few innings so he goes through the offseason with the mindset that he’s healthy and will be ready for next spring,” Melvin said. “I don’t think there’s any reason not to be cautious. You’d have to rush him back to get him one start, and it wouldn’t even be a start because you’d be working him back incrementally. For me, there’s no reason to bring him back here this season.”
Pineiro and right-handed reliever Julio Mateo, on the DL since July 29 because of elbow tendinitis, each threw off flat ground Tuesday before the Mariners took batting practice. Mateo, who began throwing on Sunday, will play catch again today.
Rotation opening: The Mariners haven’t decided who will start the second game of Saturday’s double-header against the Royals, although there’s a good chance it’ll be Clint Nageotte or Matt Thornton. Melvin said the team could grab a starter from Class AAA Tacoma – either left-hander Travis Blackley or right-hander Cha Seung Baek.
Guardado has knee surgery: Mariners closer Eddie Guardado had arthroscopic surgery Tuesday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, and the club said the operation went well. Dr. Lewis Yocum performed the procedure in Los Angeles.
M’s to visit Tulalip: Mariners pitchers Bobby Madritsch and George Sherrill will appear at noon today at the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club gym as part of the team’s Native American celebration.
Madritsch is one of eight Native Americans to play in the major leagues, and he’s the first since Rudy York, who played from 1934-48.
Members of the Tulalip Canoe Family and Salmon Ceremony Group will take part in pregame ceremonies Thursday, and the National Anthem will be performed by Carissa Ramsey of the Tulalip Tribes. Tulalip chairman Stan Jones Sr. will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Coming in September: When teams are allowed to expand their rosters next month, Melvin said the Mariners probably would call up just two prospects from Tacoma – three players, actually, counting veteran Pat Borders’ annual return to Seattle.
The best of the prospects in Tacoma are outfielder Jeremy Reed, who entered Tuesday batting .310 with four home runs and 32 RBI in 48 games since the Mariners acquired him in the Freddy Garcia trade; outfielder Jamal Strong, .324 with 19 steals; third baseman Greg Dobbs, .290 with seven homers and 27 RBI; and first baseman A.J. Zapp, .293 with 28 homers and 94 RBI.
Most likely, the Mariners will bring up Reed and Dobbs. Reed is a highly regarded outfielder the Mariners want to see closely at the major league level and Dobbs plays a position – third base – that will be a major focus of the team in the offseason.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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