TODAY’S GAME
Opponent: Tampa Bay Devil Rays
When: 3:35 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: None
Radio: KIRO (710 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle right-hander James Baldwin (3-4, 5.04 earned run average) vs. right-hander Tanyon Sturtze (0-4, 5.11).
Piniella benches Cirillo
Mariners manager Lou Piniella, having seen one too many base running mistakes by Jeff Cirillo, made sure there won’t be any more in the near future.
Piniella has benched Cirillo, the third baseman who was picked off first base in the third inning of Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to the Devil Rays.
Desi Relaford started at third Wednesday as Cirillo took a seat, and that’s how the lineup will stay for a while, Piniella said.
“It’s not a day off,” said Piniella, who often likes to sit a struggling player for a game. This is more than that. “I’ll get him back in there. But I haven’t been pleased with the way he’s been running the bases.”
Cirillo has been picked off twice this season, caught stealing twice and thrown out on the bases at least twice while trying to stretch singles into doubles.
“I don’t know (if it’s mental) but it’s something that certainly he needs to improve on,” Piniella said. “We’ve talked to him about it before.”
With their small-ball style of play, base running is a big part of the Mariners’ offense and goes much farther than stolen bases. Piniella has little patience for players who run into outs.
“Good baserunning is just as important as good hitting to winning baseball games,” Piniella said. “You can live with slumps and you can live with physical errors, but you can’t live with mental errors on the basepaths.
“We’ve made more mental errors early this year than all the last two years combined. Believe me, they add up in the boxscores as wins and losses. There’s nothing wrong with being aggressive, but you must be smart aggressive.”
Look who’s PFPing: Among the Mariners on the field Wednesday afternoon for a session of PFP (pitchers fielding practice) was Jeff Nelson, who was chasing down ground balls and making soft tosses to first base just 16 days after elbow surgery.
“It felt really good,” said Nelson, who had three bone chips removed on May 8.
Nelson, expected to return by late June, said he’s glad to be working out with the team after staying home during last week’s road trip.
“As much as I love being around the family, I don’t like watching (M’s games) on TV,” Nelson said. “You feel you should be there.”
The bone chips continue to occupy a spot in the KJR radio offices in Seattle after an attempt by the station to sell them for charity was thwarted when eBay pulled the item off its auction.
KJR is trying to sell the chips on its own and will match the highest offer, which so far is $1,000. Nelson was impressed.
“For something you’re just going to throw away, $2,000 is pretty good,” he said.
In need of Edgar: Piniella says the injury to Edgar Martinez isn’t the sole reason the Mariners are struggling offensively, but he still can’t wait to get the designated hitter back in the lineup.
“He’s hit third and fourth for us over the past few years,” Piniella said. “He allows us to build the rest of the lineup around him. It’s going to help all the way around.”
Martinez will run the bases before today’s game and, if that goes well, probably play this weekend with the Mariners’ rookie-level minor leaguers in Peoria, Ariz. He ruptured a tendon behind his left knee on April 11 and underwent surgery two days later.
Where’s an ax? Piniella struggled for a logical answer to a question that has perplexed even himself this season: Why does the Mariners’ offense struggle at Safeco Field?
Entering Wednesday, the M’s were hitting .238 at home compared with .312 on the road, with 98 runs at home and 158 on the road.
“I can’t tell you why,” Piniella said. “We hit the ball pretty well here last year. The only thing I see here that’s different are the trees.”
The club planted trees in front of the batter’s eye in center field, hoping they would reduce the glare in the hitters’ eyes. Most M’s players say the trees haven’t made a big difference.
Kirby Arnold
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