By Kirby Arnold
Herald Writer
PEORIA, Ariz. – Every time Lou Piniella needs an extra outfielder in spring training, he knows Chris Snelling always is available to add some excitement.
With the Seattle Mariners splitting their squad for two games Sunday, Piniella brought Snelling along to Maryvale for the game against the Brewers.
And yes, the 20-year-old Australian, a favorite of Everett AquaSox fans when he played there in 1999, added excitement.
A nervous Snelling committed a first-inning throwing error that allowed a run, then more than made up for it. He threw out a runner at the plate in the second inning and drove in two runs with a triple in the third.
“He’s a good-looking young player,” Piniella said. “He plays hard and every time we have an opportunity to get him up here from the minor leagues, we get him a chance to play.”
Told of Piniella’s endorsement, Snelling balked for a moment.
“Is that a good thing?” he asked. “It must be.”
Before the game, he told a reporter he just wanted to play a solid game and not draw attention to himself with a mistake. Then he made the throwing error the first time he touched the ball.
“I made the error, dude,” he said when the reporter approached after the game. “That’s the first thing that went through my mind. I thought, ‘Oh no, they’re going to write about that.’ No excuses. I don’t know what I was thinking. It was stupid.”
As for the perfect throw to the plate in the second inning?
“Got lucky,” he said.
Taking the fifth: The battle for the Mariners’ fifth starter became a two-city affair on Sunday, and the results were much more impressive in Tucson than Maryvale.
In Tucson, right-hander Joel Pineiro continued his outstanding spring with three shutout innings in a 7-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Pineiro, who gave up two hits, hasn’t allowed an earned run in five innings.
In Maryvale, left-hander John Halama never found a grasp on his control, yielding seven earned runs on six hits and five walks in two innings, running his earned run average to 18.00. The Mariners never recovered in an 11-8 loss to the Brewers.
Pineiro was so efficient he went to the bullpen and threw after his three innings were up. He was on a 55-pitch count but threw only 41 in the game.
“I wanted to go out and put up zeroes and I did,” Pineiro said. “The most important thing is my arm felt really great.”
Piniella, who stayed in Maryvale, was disappointed in Halama.
“It wasn’t very impressive for Johnny,” Piniella said. “He’s been struggling here and he’s starting to fall a little behind in the battle for the No. 5 spot. He’s got to get it going.
“I was expecting him to come into camp and throw it well, being the second year removed from a minor surgery. I thought his arm would be strong. He’s had trouble with his command more than anything else, and John’s not the type of pitcher who can put people on via walks and at the same time fall behind in the count. He’s going to get hit, so he’s got to locate and stay ahead.”
A different Ichiro: Piniella had to plead with Ichiro Suzuki to pull the ball last spring. On Sunday, Suzuki popped his second home run of spring training, pulling Glendon Rusch’s third pitch of the game over the right-field fence.
“Ichiro’s more comfortable,” Piniella said. “He knows the league better and he’s hitting the ball for more power than he did last spring. I had to ask him at one time last spring to pull the ball, but now he can do whatever he wants up there.”
Suzuki says he is more interested in how he feels at the plate than where he hits the ball.
“It’s far from the regular season,” he said. “You’re more concerned with what you do than the result. In the regular season, the result is more important.”
Suzuki also singled in the third inning, making him 4-for-4 against Rusch this spring. Overall, he is batting .429.
At long last: Gil Meche, the right-handed pitcher who hasn’t thrown since the 2000 season because of shoulder problems, will return to the mound today when the Mariners play the White Sox in Tucson. He is scheduled to pitch one inning.
“I’d even like to see him for one hitter,” Piniella said.
Meche had surgery last February to repair a partially frayed rotator cuff, then another operation in October after he experienced soreness.
Loneliest Mariner: Blake Barthol sat in the dugout before the Mariners-Brewers game, unable to throw a baseball but aching to get into the game as a pinch-hitter.
Barthol, a catcher who learned last week that he has a torn labrum in his right shoulder, is hoping to avoid surgery that would end his season. He plans to wait until Saturday to throw again, and then let the pain determine whether he’ll have the operation.
“But it doesn’t hurt to swing. That’s why I’m here. I’m hoping to get an at-bat,” said Barthol, who got one plate appearance, walking on five pitches in the ninth inning.
Barthol’s smile was a little wider that usual Sunday. His wife and 19-month-old daughter, who he hasn’t seen since he left home in Pennsylvania in January, arrived in Arizona late Saturday night.
“I looked at her this morning and she said, ‘Daddy!’” Barthol said. “I think I’ve needed her more than she needed me.”
Apollo Rizzs: What started as some stubble below broadcaster Rick Rizzs’ lower lip a week ago has grown into an Apollo Ohno-like soul patch – with a mix of gray.
How long will he keep it?
“Not much longer,” Rizzs said.
With the Mariners-Giants game scheduled to be televised Thursday night, chances are he’ll be clean shaven when the camera turns on.
Today in camp: Mariners vs. Rockies in Tucson, on KNWX radio (770 AM). Right-hander Freddy Garcia will start for the Mariners against right-hander Lorenzo Barcelo. Left-hander Mat Jarvis and right-hander Justin Kaye also will pitch for the Mariners.
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