Pineiro prevails in potent duel
BOSTON – Joel Pineiro escaped a bases-loaded jam with no outs. Tim Wakefield couldn’t overcome two passed balls and a misplayed fly in one wild inning.
That combination gave Pineiro the edge in a pitchers’ duel Saturday when he led the Seattle Mariners to a 3-0 win over the Red Sox. It was more impressive because Pineiro was 2-5 with a 7.71 ERA in his first eight starts against Boston.
“You can say I was due,” Pineiro said.
He almost was done in the second inning. After leaving two runners stranded in the first, he allowed a double and two walks to the first three batters in the second.
“I wouldn’t want to be on the mound” in that predicament, Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said. “I’d want to be somewhere in Tibet probably, but he did a good job.”
Pineiro (2-1), who went 6 1/3 innings and combined with J.J. Putz and Eddie Guardado on a five-hitter, struck out the next two batters then retired Alex Cora on a groundout.
“That was the turning point,” Pineiro said. “Then we came back the next inning and scored some runs.”
They wouldn’t have scored any in the third if Boston’s defense, outstanding so far this season, didn’t falter.
Yuniesky Betancourt led off with a double. Ichiro Suzuki then struck out but reached first, and Betancourt took third, on the first of Josh Bard’s passed balls on Wakefield’s knuckler. Ichiro then stole second, and another passed ball scored Betancourt and sent Ichiro to third.
Jose Lopez lined out to third before Raul Ibanez hit a high liner to right field. Wily Mo Pena started to run in, then the ball landed behind him for a run-scoring ground-rule double. Had Bard held the ball on Ichiro’s strikeout and Pena caught the fly, Wakefield (1-2) would have had a shutout inning.
Wakefield pitched a complete game, allowing nine hits and no walks with six strikeouts, but blamed himself for the bad inning.
“I left a ball up to Ibanez that got over Wily Mo’s head,” he said after pitching his 29th complete game. His previous one was another loss, 1-0 to the Yankees in New York last Sept. 11.
Richie Sexson followed with an RBI single for a 3-0 lead.
The inning ended on a strange play when Carl Everett singled to center fielder Adam Stern. Sexson stopped at second then ran toward third when the ball got by Stern. But Stern picked it up and threw to shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who fired to first baseman J.T. Snow. Everett made a wide turn and was tagged out.
“Most of the time (when) Wake goes out there, gives up three runs and throws a complete game, we are out there shaking hands and patting him on the back,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “He was great.”
Bard, who had three passed balls in Wakefield’s first start and has five for the season, replaced the traded Doug Mirabelli as the knuckleballer’s personal catcher.
“It’s frustrating,” Bard said. “I’m disappointed with the way that today went, but I’m going to keep working hard and I’ll get this thing figured out.”
Mirabelli had 10 passed balls in his first season with Wakefield, then 14 in 2003 and 15 in 2004 before getting just six last season.
The Red Sox couldn’t overcome the 3-0 deficit as they continued a hitting slump after leading the majors in runs each of the last three seasons.
Pineiro gave up five hits and two walks with five strikeouts, allowing two hits after the second. He left with runners at first and second and one out in the seventh, and Putz retired the last two batters.
Putz pitched a perfect eighth. Guardado pitched the ninth for his second save in two opportunities.