Opponent: Tampa Bay Devil Rays
When: 4:15 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday
Where: Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.
TV: KIRO (channel 7) Tuesday, Fox Sports Net (cable) Wednesday
Radio: KIRO (710 AM) both days
Pitchers: Tuesday – Seattle right-hander Joel Pineiro (4-1, 2.00 earned run average) vs. right-hander Ryan Rupe (4-5, 5.53). Wednesday – Right-hander Freddy Garcia (5-4, 3.72) vs. right-hander Tanyon Sturtze (0-5, 5.19)
Let’s talk: Jeff Cirillo, a man with a million things on his mind these days, unloaded a lot of them on Lou Piniella when he went to the Mariners’ manager and had a long talk Sunday morning.
Piniella came out of the meeting feeling better about Cirillo, who has struggled all season offensively and has run into a flurry of outs on the bases recently.
“It was a good talk,” Piniella said. “I’m glad he came in. He’s a fine young man and he wants to do well. I told him to just relax and have fun and don’t take this thing to heart so much.”
That may be easier for Piniella to say than for Cirillo to do.
“When I’m not pulling my weight, it weighs on me pretty good,” he admitted.
“He wants to do well and he’s been trying to force it instead of let it happen,” Piniella said. “I told him I was the one who asked for him when he became available.”
Two days after Piniella benched Cirillo because of baserunning mistakes, he didn’t play him on Sunday. Just a day off, said the manager, who still did his best to keep Cirillo loose on the bench.
“I told him during the game we’re going to make him our baserunning coach,” Piniella said. “Just joking around, obviously.”
It’s a balk: Travis Driskill got away with it on Saturday when he picked Ichiro Suzuki off first base, and so did Rodrigo Lopez on Sunday when he caught Chris Snelling.
Each Baltimore pitcher used a move that should have been ruled a balk, Piniella said, although umpires didn’t call anything but the Mariner runners out.
Both Driskill and Lopez would come to the set position in their stretch, then buckle their front knee slightly before throwing to first base.
Piniella told Saturday night’s plate umpire, Bill Miller, to watch for it after Suzuki was picked off.
“I told him that in certain instances, they give you a buckle with the front knee and a little turn with the shoulder,” Piniella said. “As a runner, you key off that.”
After Lopez used the same move to pick off Snelling on Sunday, Piniella’s words to first-base ump Larry Young carried more venom.
“It’s a balk. They used it twice in three days, and both times they picked us off,” Piniella said. “When we go to Baltimore (late this week), I’m going to go to the umpiring crew before the series. I’ll tell them to look at the video.
“They only use it in definite running situations, but it’s a balk. Since they don’t do it very often, they get away with it.”
Lost series: Marty Cordova’s road trip got off to a hot start when he scorched the side of his face in a suntan salon, but it didn’t ignite his hitting.
Cordova went 0-for-12 in the three games at Safeco Field, including a four-strikeout night on Friday. He finished the series with three strikeouts, hit into two double plays and didn’t get the ball out of the infield.
Relief streak: Ryan Franklin’s 1-2-3 ninth inning Sunday extended the Mariners’ streak of scoreless innings by the bullpen to 24 2/3. The relievers haven’t allowed a run in their last nine games dating to May 14 in Toronto, a streak in which they’ve allowed 14 hits and five walks while striking out 21.
Unforgettable moment: Sunday was the seventh anniversary of one of the most memorable moments in Mariners history. It was seven years to the day since Ken Griffey Jr. crashed into the outfield wall at the Kingdome and broke his left wrist while catching a ball hit by Baltimore’s Kevin Bass. Griffey had surgery the next day and didn’t return until Aug. 15.
Kirby Arnold
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