We’ll keep this brief. About as long as it takes Michael Pineda to carve through an inning.
In his first start at Safeco Field, Pineda was everything the Mariners could have hoped for tonight in a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
• He threw 23 first-pitch strikes to the 29 hitters he faced.
• His fastball sat consistently at 96 mph and a few times reached 98, including a strikeout of Toronto’s J.P. Arencibia in the seventh inning.
• You want a youngster with poise on the mound, especially in a duel with Blue Jays left-hander Ricky Romero? With upper 90 mph stuff and good command of his secondary pitches, poise comes easily.
It may not be like this every start for Pineda, but what he showed tonight gave the Mariners some sweet dreams of their future.
“This was a good team win, but it was definitely all about the big guy on the hill tonight,” said center fielder Ryan Langerhans, whose two-run home run was the key hit in the Mariners’ three-run third inning. “I was running into the dugout talking to (left fielder Michael Saunders) and on the way in I was like, ‘Are you serious with this guy? He’s not even using the middle of the plate.’ You’re seeing 97s, 98s up on the board, and it’d be one thing if it was in the middle of the plate, but he was just using the corners on both sides and throwing his breaking pitches.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
