Piniella Sends His Wild Relievers Packing

A manager who demands one thing of his bullpen - throw strikes - Lou Piniella on Sunday began weeding out relievers known for throwing balls.

After a game in which his staff issued 10 walks, Piniella sent three left-handed pitchers and a first baseman to Tacoma, then called up a 22-year-old right-hander from Class AA Port City.

“He throws strikes,” Piniella said, and no further explanation was necessary.

The rules of major league baseball require teams to cut their rosters from 28 players to 25 today, and during Seattle’s 10-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox the Mariners’ problem became which players to keep, not which ones to send out.

“We had some ideas, but nothing was set in concrete,” Piniella said.

Before the game the Mariners knew Greg Pirkl, Kevin King and John Cummings were going to be sent out, but when struggling rookie left-hander Ron Villone walked three men in two-thirds of an inning, he was added to the list.

“It was my third bad outing in a row,” Villone said. “Wherever I go, all I can do is my best. Have I ever been as frustrated as I was today? Once. Last year in my last start, I was pitching with a bad ankle and I just had no idea what I was doing.”

When the day began, there were four rookies on the Seattle roster and each was afraid he might be elsewhere by evening. Outfielder Darren Bragg stuck, but he wasn’t certain he deserved to.

“I wouldn’t have blamed the skipper for sending me out,” said Bragg, batting .179. “My hope was that I’d get more than 39 at-bats, and I guess I’ll get the chance to show I can do it. I wasn’t sure of that this morning.”

Once the game began, it looked for a time as if the Mariners could sweep Chicago - after four innings, starter Jim Converse had a 1-0 lead. Converse tired, gave up a two-run home run to Tim Raines and the White Sox swarmed, scoring in each of the last five innings.

“It got a little out of hand,” Piniella said. “Well, a lot, actually.”

Villone, Cummings and King each worked in relief, and by the end of the game they were on their way to the minor leagues, leaving the Mariners with one left-handed reliever, veteran Lee Guetterman.

And flying west from Port City is Rafael Carmona, who pitched 15 innings this spring, walked three batters and struck out 17.

“He’s got four pitches and he throws them for strikes,” Piniella said.

Strikes? Strikes?

Piniella didn’t see nearly enough Sunday and his catcher, Chad Kreuter, paid a physical price behind the plate.

“I’ve never seen so many balls in the dirt,” Kreuter said.

It’s not that the loss to Chicago was especially costly, though it did drop Seattle from first place into second in the American League West. The Mariners took two of three games from the White Sox and that’s one more victory than they had against Chicago in 10 meetings last season.

What had Piniella and his pitching coach muttering was the control problems of pitchers who have been told continuously of the Gospel According to Lou - throw strikes.

The White Sox pitched like a team that had memorized that book, not walking a single Mariners hitter while Seattle’s pitcher took turns forcing Chicago batters to take first base.

Converse walked five men in four innings. Villone walked three, Cummings two more.

As for Pirkl, the big first baseman was a victim of the numbers crunch and fast starts by Tino and Edgar Martinez. A first-baseman and designated hitter, the 24-year-old Pirkl had just five at-bats because the Mariners simply couldn’t find a spot in which to play him.

“Pirkl just needs to play,” Piniella said. “Villone needs to pitch and get sharp, Cummings will start in Tacoma to get his work, and King will go back to the bullpen.

“We’re playing good baseball, but you can’t win not throwing strikes,” he said.

So the roster changed, and on Tuesday in Kansas City there will be a new face in the Mariners bullpen - and three familiar faces on the Rainiers roster.

Villone, Pirkl and Cummings will each report to Tacoma within the next few days, while King, officially designated for assignment, may not get there until late in the week.

“It wasn’t fun today, but each of these kids can play here,” Piniella said. “What they need is consistency. What the pitchers need to do is throw strikes, period.”