Pineiro thrilled with WBC homeland experience

PEORIA, Ariz. – Joel Pineiro knew it would be nice to go home to Puerto Rico and pitch in the World Baseball Classic.

What he didn’t expect was the feeling of adrenaline and national pride he got from pitching in the tournament.

Pineiro returned to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday and didn’t have a negative thing to say about his experience, even though Puerto Rico was eliminated in the second round of the tournament.

“I would definitely do it again,” he said. “It was a great feeling to have that jersey on and being in Puerto Rico having the fans supporting you. Having those eight other guys out there on the field with you was emotional and exciting.”

The best part, Pineiro said, was pitching to catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.

“My dream came true,” he said.

Pineiro pitched twice, allowing two earned runs and seven hits in 8 2/3 innings.

“Everything was for pride and it was a good competition,” he said. “Not to take away from anything here, but it’s a different feeling putting on this (the Mariners’) uniform compared to putting on that uniform. It had extra meaning in Puerto Rico. Maybe if we were playing in Japan, yeah, we’d be proud, but we wouldn’t have 18, 19, 20 thousand people behind us cheering every out. It was great.”

Besides Pineiro, right fielder Ichiro Suzuki (Japan) and third baseman Adrian Beltre (Dominican Republic) of the Mariners also are playing in the WBC. Their teams played in the semifinals on Saturday in San Diego, with Beltre’s losing to Cuba.

Pineiro said he stayed at his home, about 10 minutes from Hiram Bithorn Stadium where the games were played in San Juan, and he left about 30 tickets per game for friends and family.

“People recognize me a lot more now than they did before because of this,” he said. “Before, I used to go to the supermarket and a couple people might say something. Now, everybody was saying something.”

Pineiro, who pitched an intrasquad game and a B game before he joined the Puerto Rican team, is scheduled for his first Cactus League spring training game on Monday in Arizona against the A’s.

Giants thump Mariners

Jason Ellison went 5 for 5 with three runs, and Todd Linden was 3 for 6 with four runs as San Francisco defeated the Mariners 14-3.

Ellison and Linden were just part of a big offensive day for the Giants, who had 19 hits and took advantage of poor relief work by Seattle after starter Felix Hernandez left the game. Matt Thornton allowed five runs in the fifth, including a two-run homer by Mike Matheny and Emiliano Fruto gave up five without retiring a runner in the sixth.

Hernandez allowed two runs and five hits in four innings, striking out four. The Giants scored two in the third off Hernandez, taking advantage of a walk, wild pitch and error.