Opponent: Oakland Athletics
When: 7:05 p.m. Friday, 6:05 p.m. Saturday, 5:05 p.m. Sunday
Where: Safeco Field
TV: KIRO (Ch. 7) Friday, Fox Sports Net (cable) Saturday, ESPN (cable) Sunday.
Pitchers: Friday – Mariners right-hander James Baldwin (10-11, 4.42 earned run average last year with the White sox and Dodgers) vs. right-hander Erik Hiljus (5-0, 3.41). Saturday – Right-hander Freddy Garcia (0-1, 4.26 this season) vs. left-hander Mark Mulder (1-0, 3.38). Sunday – Left-hander Jamie Moyer (0-0, 1.50) vs. right-hander Tim Hudson (0-0, 1.42).
Pineiro to the pen: The Mariners will decide by Friday who will start Tuesday in Anaheim when the fifth spot in the pitching rotation comes up. They said Wednesday that it won’t be the man everyone thought it would be.
After considerable thought and a close look at the schedule, the M’s decided right-hander Joel Pineiro will stay in the bullpen and left-hander John Halama and righty Ryan Franklin will share the fifth spot for the first two months of the season.
The Mariners will need a fifth starter only seven times in that period and they believe the team would be served better with the hard-throwing Pineiro in the bullpen.
“In those seven times, we feel like we wouldn’t be taking advantage of what Joel has to offer when he could be giving us another power arm in the bullpen,” pitching coach Bryan Price said.
Halama, a left-hander, probably will start Tuesday and occupy the fifth spot the next two months unless that turn follows left-hander Jamie Moyer. Halama and Moyer are similar in their pitching styles and the Mariners want to avoid using them back-to-back in the same series. When that happens, Franklin would start.
“We’re trying to put this team in a position to win,” Price said. “What the players need to do and what they’ve been willing to do for the two years I’ve been here is to put everything else aside and put the focus on winning. When you explain it to people that way, how can you say no to that? You’d have to find a pretty self-centered person to say ‘No I won’t do that,’ and I don’t think we have those types of people here.”
Pineiro didn’t show any signs of bitterness, although the first he saw of a role in the bullpen came when he read it in the newspaper Wednesday. Last weekend, manager Lou Piniella named him the fifth starter.
“I just want to pitch,” Pineiro said.
Piniella likes having a power pitcher available for sixth- and seventh-inning setup duty and Pineiro is a perfect fit.
“When Jose Paniagua was traded, we immediately felt the guy who could take those innings could be Pineiro and possibly become a front-line setup guy or a closer,” Price said. “He throws 92 to 95 (mph) out of the bullpen. That’s hard to find with control and a power breaking ball.”
Mister perfect: When Arthur Rhodes became the winning pitcher Tuesday night, it gave him a career-best 10-game winning streak dating to Oct. 1, 2000.
The streak began when Rhodes won the final game of the regular season two years ago. He went 8-0 last season.
Paul Abbott and Jamie Moyer each had 10-game streaks last year, and former Mariner Aaron Sele won 12 straight decisions from Sept. 10, 2000 to May 31, 2001.
The Mariners’ record for consecutive victories is 16 by Randy Johnson from Aug. 11, 1995 to May 2, 1997.
Mama’s care: Infielder Desi Relaford was sick with the flu and left Safeco Field at game time Tuesday, but he got the best of care when he went home.
“Mom’s in town and she made me a little soup,” Relaford said Wednesday. “I feel much better. I’m ready to go.”
Kirby Arnold
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