After eight weeks and nine starts, Mariners starter Joel Pineiro finally got to lean back and celebrate Sunday.
Pineiro’s winless draught ended when he pitched eight strong innings in the Mariners’ 8-1 win over Montreal.
“It’s nice to get one on the other side of the (won-loss) column,” Pineiro said while relaxing in the team’s clubhouse. “I went out there being aggressive, and I tried to take the same stuff I had my last start (a 1-0 loss to Houston).”
While Pineiro struggled through most of April, he has pitched well enough to record at least a win or two in recent weeks. But the Mariners gave him just 2.71 runs of support in the seven outings leading up to Sunday’s game.
With 14 hits and eight runs, Seattle finally gave Pineiro the kind of offense he could carry to a victory.
“Joel hasn’t gotten very much luck,” first baseman John Olerud said. “We haven’t scored very many runs for him, but I think that can be said for a couple guys on the team here. We haven’t scored a lot here lately.
“It’s a good feeling when you go out and score some runs, especially for someone like Joel who hasn’t gotten a whole lot of run support.”
Pineiro already has almost as many losses this year (eight) as he had in all of last season (11). But his ERA, which was 8.26 in five April starts, has leveled off to a manageable 4.92 for the season.
“It’s been kind of frustrating, but you can’t let it get to you,” he said. “You’ve got to bounce back, fight back. I’ve been going out there seven, eight innings, trying to fight. Sometimes you don’t get the runs, and sometimes you do.”
Pineiro has pitched into the eighth inning in four of his past six starts.
His only big mistake Sunday was a solo home run by Montreal’s Terrmel Sledge in the fifth. He got out of jams in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings, leaving runners stranded in scoring position.
Successful experiment: For the second consecutive game, Ichiro Suzuki batted third in the order while Randy Winn led off. Based on the early returns, Seattle’s lineup is better for the switch.
Just like he did Saturday night, Winn reached base to open Sunday’s game and later scored. Suzuki brought Winn home from third base when he grounded into a double play.
Winn went 2-for-4 with an RBI on Sunday, while Suzuki was 1-for-4.
“We’ve won two games doing it, that’s the bottom line,” said manager Bob Melvin, who made the move to shake up an anemic offense. “I’m not going to change the lineup in the next game when we have a flow going. Randy’s doing a nice job at the top, and the middle of the order was key today, so I don’t see any changes.”
Suzuki said after Saturday’s win that he doesn’t mind batting third, even though he led off the first 59 games of this season.
“I want to do what’s best for the team,” he said. “I want to do a good job there. Obviously, there are things I have to do to prepare myself to be successful there. But if the team needs me, then I’m there.”
Short of history: The Mariners had a chance to become the fourth team in major league history, and the first in 51 years, to be involved in six consecutive shutouts. But Sledge ended that bid with a solo home run in the fifth.
Seattle had recorded back-to-back shutouts of Montreal after being held scoreless in the two previous games. Last Tuesday, the Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 5-0 to start the five-game streak.
Borders run: Catcher Pat Borders recorded a rare steal when Randy Winn missed a pitch on a hit-and-run in the sixth. It was the first stolen base for Borders, 41, since June 4, 1994.
“I probably won’t get another stolen base for 10 more years. And that will be in softball,” said Borders, who now has seven steals in his 12-year career.
Short hops: Edgar Martinez hit his 506th career double in the third inning, tying him with Babe Ruth for 35th on the all-time list. … Willie Bloomquist started at third base in place of struggling Scott Spiezio, who went 4-for-25 during the homestand. … The Expos tried to cure their offensive woes by using a lineup that included six left-handed batters and switch-hitter Jose Vidro. But with six hits and one run, Montreal is still searching for answers. … After going 59 games without having a player ejected, the Expos did it for the second day in a row Sunday when shortstop Orlando Cabrera was tossed for yelling at home plate umpire Doug Eddings.
Scott M. Johnson, Herald Writer
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