Seattle Mariners baseball team

Even with the tough economy in 2011, Mariners Care fund raising efforts for charities rose back above the $1 million mark this past season, the club announced on Monday.

The Mariners’ non-profit foundation and its corporate partners helped provide $1,003,652 for a variety of charitable programs throughout the Northwest. In the past 12 years, Mariners Care has helped raise $12.5 million for primarily youth-oriented community service programs.

“We take our responsibility to the community very seriously at the Seattle Mariners,” Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln said. “I’m proud that Mariners Care, our corporate partners and our fans have helped make such a positive and lasting impact on our community.”

Mariners Care and the club’s corporate partners supported more than 1,500 local organizations in the past year, including Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Seattle Children’s, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Northwest Harvest, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, American Diabetes Association, Emergency Feeding Program of King County, and the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Additionally, every Mariners player participated in and supported various community programs and causes.

The biggest fund raiser among the 28 Mariners Care efforts was the Cystic Fibrosis Mariners Care Golf Tournament at The Golf Club at Newcastle, which brought in more than $200,000.

The Toys for Kids Dinner and Auction, hosted by Rick Rizzs, Dave Henderson and the Mariners RBI Club, raised more than $140,000 with its 10th annual event.

Another $110,000 was raised for Japan earthquake and tsunami relief efforts during April through auctions and gate collections at Safeco Field.

One of the new efforts this year was the sale of “Dave” patches in honor of broadcaster Dave Niehaus. The patches worn on the sleeves by Mariners players were sold at Mariners Team Stores, with proceeds going to the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. So far, sales have raised $54,931 for FAAN.

There’s life in the Cardinals yet.

A team that has made a habit of getting to some of the toughest closers in the league did it again on Saturday. St. Louis scratched out two runs against Carlos Marmol for a stunning and desperately needed 2-1 win against the Cubs at Busch Stadium. With the win, the Cardinals moved back within two games of the Braves in the National League Wild Card race. Atlanta lost, 4-1, to Washington.

The Braves’ magic number to clinch the Wild Card remained at three with four games still scheduled in the regular season. Any combination of three Braves wins and Cardinals losses over the final four days will eliminate St. Louis. With two more wins or Cardinals losses, the Braves would ensure that they could do no worse than a one-game playoff, which would take place at Busch Stadium on Thursday.

“Four games left, it looks better two games out than three games out,” said Albert Pujols, who was 0-for-3 with a walk.

A wild pitch scored pinch-runner Adron Chambers with the winning run as a Busch Stadium crowd numbered at 42,571 erupted. St. Louis trailed from the top of the first until the bottom of the ninth.

Matt Holliday got the inning going with a one-out single to center. He was removed for pinch-runner Tyler Greene, who stole second and took third base thanks to an error on the play. That surely increased the pressure on Marmol, who had trouble finding the strike zone from there on out. After David Freese struck out, Marmol walked Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker to load the bases.

Chambers pinch-ran for Molina, a move that proved invaluable. Marmol couldn’t find the zone against ex-teammate Ryan Theriot, walking him on six pitches as Theriot never swung the bat. With an 0-1 count against Rafael Furcal, Marmol uncorked the wild pitch that scored Chambers.

“We’re trying to score, you know?” said the speedy rookie. “Any way, walk, base hit, passed ball. I was ready for a passed ball. I was just trying to touch home plate before they tagged me.”

Marmol suffered his first blown save since Sept. 3 and only his third in more than two months. He had finished out the Cubs’ win the night before.

“Marm’s command just deserted him today,” said Cubs manager Mike Quade. “You get beat with strikes, so be it. We didn’t do anything offensively. It’s just a tough day for Marmol.”

The comeback allowed Jason Motte to be the winning pitcher. Motte got the last two outs of the top of the ninth, completing an outstanding pitching day for the Cards. Octavio Dotel and Marc Rzepczynski also contributed perfect relief work behind seven strong innings from Kyle Lohse.

St. Louis had lost its previous two games. The Cardinals have now won 20 of their last 28 games.

Rodrigo Lopez, a pitcher who has tended to struggle against the Cardinals, stifled them on a cool, bright afternoon. In contrast to Friday night’s win by Chicago, the Cardinals scarcely even threatened against Lopez, managing four hits and two walks over six innings.

That obscured a superb performance by Lohse, who has been coming on lately. Lohse struck out a season-high eight batters over seven innings, and didn’t permit a Cubs hitter to reach second base after the first inning.

“I feel as strong as I have all year right now,” Lohse said. “Whether that’s because I was reeled back in a little bit or whatever it was, that’s behind me now. I feel strong right now.”

Lohse would start a tiebreaker game in five days if the Cardinals were to force one.

Before the ninth, the Cards’ only significant threat came in the sixth inning, when a walk and a single put men on the corners with one out. But Holliday hit a grounder to the left side for the first out and David Freese lined out to end the inning.

Lopez entered the game with a lifetime record of 2-5 and a 6.70 ERA against St. Louis, and several Cardinals brought gaudy personal statistics against him into the matchup. But it didn’t matter on Saturday, as he spotted his fastball and frustrated the team that leads the National League in runs scored.

However, the Redbirds were able to break through against the Chicago bullpen and keep a little breath in their hopes for another day.

“We have to win every single game,” Schumaker said. “Just cut to the chase here. We have to win every single game. So this was as big as any single game. It’s a really big, big deal for us to win that game in that fashion.”

With utility infielder Luis Rodriguez still recovering from a cut on his right hand he suffered Thursday in Minnesota, rookie Kyle Seager was at shortstop again Saturday for the Mariners, with Alex Liddi as his backup.

Manager Eric Wedge said Rodriguez’s hand was improving after being gashed in three places by the spikes of a sliding Danny Valencia of the Twins and would possibly be available if needed Saturday in reserve.

But Liddi, starting at third base against the Rangers in Saturday’s game, remains the first option as the back up at shortstop.

“I haven’t told him that yet, but yeah,” Wedge said with a laugh.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Italian played 24 games at short for Triple-A Tacoma earlier this year.

As for Seager, Wedge is still getting a feel for how the 23-year-old can handle the position at the Major League level. Saturday was his sixth start at short after playing most of the season at second base in the Minors and third with Seattle.

He impressed the skipper with his adjustment on Friday. After failing to handle a hard-hit backhand deep in the hole by Nelson Cruz in the fourth, he made an excellent play on a similar one-hop scorcher by Adrian Beltre leading off the eighth.

“The first one, he kind of comes off a little quick with his eyes and misses it; the second one, he looks it in and makes a nice play,” said Wedge. “It’s a great example of two similar plays, oddly enough in the same game, to where he gets better.

“And I think he’s been a little more comfortable on his turns. We turned a couple of nice double plays yesterday. We’re getting a feel for his range and instincts. He’s holding his own right now and I’d like to see more of him.”

Wedge reiterated Saturday that outfielder Casper Wells is “pretty much done for the season” with more tests scheduled early next week as doctors try to pinpoint an equilibrium problem. It’s the same story with shortstop Brendan Ryan and the disk problem in his neck.

“Weighing everything with Ryan, risk-reward, I think that’s a long shot,” said Wedge.

Manager Eric Wedge said the Mariners will add two or three players on Thursday when Major League rosters are allowed to expand and likely one or two more when Minor League seasons end.

Wedge said the decision on promotions has been made, but he couldn’t name names because the players involved weren’t to be informed until after their Minor League games Wednesday night.

He did say there would be some pitching additions, which is something of a given since the Mariners’ bullpen currently is at six after Dan Cortes went on the 15-day disabled list last week.

Right-handed reliever Shawn Kelley, throwing well at Triple-A Tacoma after recovering from elbow surgery, is a likely addition. If the Mariners choose to promote another starter, given the struggles of Anthony Vasquez in his first two starts, the Rainiers’ best starter recently has been Erasmo Ramirez.

Ramirez, 21, isn’t on the 40-man roster, but the Mariners opened one spot there by trading infielder Jack Wilson to the Braves for a player to be named.

Third baseman Alex Liddi (.256, 28 home runs, 99 RBIs) is another who could get a call, though Wedge indicated several players wouldn’t be brought up until the Rainiers’ season ends next week and Liddi might fall in that category so he can continue playing as much as possible.

Catcher Chris Gimenez is a strong possibility as he’s now back to health after coming off the 60-day disabled list with an oblique injury suffered while he was with the Mariners earlier in the season.

The ability to expand rosters also will allow the Mariners to bring first baseman Justin Smoak off the 15-day disabled list without needing to remove anyone from the 25-man roster. Smoak played his third rehab game for Tacoma on Wednesday and is eligible to come off the DL at any time now, his broken nose and cheek now fully healed.

Infielder Chone Figgins, on the 15-day disabled list with a hip flexor injury, had some soreness Wednesday after an extensive workout Tuesday, according to Wedge.

“We’ll back him off a little and see how he feels tomorrow,” Wedge said. “There’s a chance he might go on rehab to Tacoma and a chance he might just go on the road trip with us and keep working.”

The Mariners got what Felix Hernandez said was his best pitching performance of the year on Tuesday. But it took a two-run rally in the 10th inning to beat the A’s 4-2 at Oakland Coliseum, as Seattle pulled back to .500 for the season.

Franklin Gutierrez scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error by A’s shortstop Cliff Pennington in the top of the 10th, after All-Star closer Brandon League suffered his first blown save since mid-May in the bottom of the ninth to cost Hernandez a victory.

Instead, League wound up picking up the victory, as Seattle scored twice off Andrew Bailey, with Mariners veteran Jamey Wright getting his first Major League save in his 500th appearance.

“Funny how it worked out,” said Wright. “I’ve never been in that situation before. It was pretty cool. I’d rather have not pitched tonight. ‘Leaguer’ has been solid for us. I asked him if he planned it that way so I could get my first save in my 500th game. I’m just glad our team won. It was a good win for us.”

Gutierrez singled to lead off the 10th — snapping an 0-for-15 streak — and stole second. After an intentional walk to Ichiro Suzuki, shortstop Brendan Ryan hit a potential double-play grounder, but Pennington threw wildly to first as Ichiro slid hard at his feet.

Manager Eric Wedge credited Ichiro’s aggressive slide as being “a difference maker,” though Pennington said he just made a bad throw.

“I just didn’t get a grip on the ball,” said Pennington. “I tried not to throw it, and threw it away.”

Adam Kennedy followed with a run-scoring double to give Wright a two-run cushion, and he set down the A’s in order.

“I’d had nothing but blown saves up to this point, so it’s nice to get one in the fun category,” said Wright, who spent about half his 16-year career as a starter. “It’s something I’ve always wanted an opportunity to do, even if it’s just that once. I felt great out there, did exactly what I wanted to do. It was a good feeling.”

Hernandez, needing just a little help in pursuit of his ninth win, got two runs to work with, courtesy of rookie second baseman Dustin Ackley. But League couldn’t seal the deal for the first time in his past 15 save opportunities, as the A’s rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth.

Hernandez followed up on his All-Star selection with a dominating performance, allowing just one run on four hits and no walks over eight innings, while striking out 10. But his record remains at 8-7 with a 3.22 ERA.

“Felix was as good as we’ve seen him all year long tonight, and that’s saying a lot,” said Wedge.

He got no argument there from “The King,” who recorded his fifth double-digit strikeout game of the year, and 14th of his career.

“Yeah, that’s right,” said Hernandez. “I had command of all my pitches and was finding the strike zone. That’s me, right there. That’s what I have to do, just throw strikes. I felt like I had everything, and that’s the way I need to pitch, be consistent like that.”

League, who leads the American League with 23 saves, gave up a run for the first time in 21 outings on a bloop single to left that scored Jemile Weeks from third. Weeks led off the ninth with a double, was sacrificed to third and raced home after Coco Crisp’s looper to left fell just in front of a sliding Carlos Peguero.

Ackley, just over two weeks into his Major League career, ripped his third home run and scored the first two runs for Seattle.

The 23-year-old Ackley drove a Trevor Cahill changeup over the center-field fence in the top of the seventh inning to give Hernandez a 2-0 cushion and open the eyes of his skipper.

“He backspinned that ball 410 feet to dead center,” said Wedge. “You talk about putting a good swing on the baseball, squaring it up and staying through it. A lot of things have to happen to backspin the ball to dead center like that. You’re not going to do much better than that.”

Ackley said he got a changeup up in the zone from Cahill, who gave up just five hits in a strong seven-inning outing of his own — a rematch of the season’s Opening Day starters.

“I hit it pretty good,” said Ackley. “I don’t know if that’s everything I’ve got, but I got it good enough. I saw it well. After yesterday, I took a lot of good pitches that I could have hit. Today, I was telling myself to be more aggressive. I put a good swing on that one.”

Given a chance to add another top arm to their already pitching-strong organization, the Mariners selected Virginia left-hander Danny Hultzen with the No. 2 pick in Monday’s First-Year Player Draft.

The 6-foot-3 Hultzen, 21, is 11-3 with a 1.57 ERA in 15 starts for top-ranked Virginia this year and 31-5 with a 2.18 in his three-year collegiate career.

Impressed by Hultzen’s athleticism, pitching ability and mature makeup, the Mariners surprised a few people — including the youngster from Maryland — by picking him ahead of well-regarded position players like Anthony Rendon and Bubba Starling.

“I believe in taking the best player or the best pitcher and Dan was the best guy at pick No. 2, no doubt,” said Mariners amateur scouting director Tom McNamara.

Hultzen was a 10th-round selection by the D-backs three years ago, but felt it best to go to college and said he’d never second-guess that decision even if he hadn’t had such a successful career at Virginia.

“That was very important for me,” Hultzen said. “I’ve learned so much, not only about baseball but about being a man and growing up and helping me mature on and off the field.”

It’s that sort of outlook that impressed the Mariners. That and the mid-90s fastball and pinpoint control. Some have compared him to Cliff Lee in his pitching style, which is certainly heady company.

“He’s a very athletic kid,” said Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik. “He’s a strike thrower. And you have a left-handed pitcher that’s done the things he’s done, his make-up, poise. His parents are very professional people, his father’s a doctor and his mother a psychiatrist. He’s an Academic All-American.

“You start putting the pieces together and realize you have a good pedigree as well as a lot of success on the field. So it’s a combination of a lot of things that make this a very solid selection for us.”

As for Hultzen’s own scouting report on himself?

“I’m a left-hander who goes out and competes, no matter who I’m facing,” he said. “Just go after and attack the hitter.”

Hultzen has held opposing hitters to a .189 batting average with 17 walks and 148 strikeouts in 103 1/3 innings this year. He’s also a good enough athlete to have played designated hitter and first base when not pitching, posting a .330 batting average and 25 RBIs this season.

He’s stolen 18 bases in 19 attempts during his college career.

Virginia advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals by beating East Carolina on Sunday. Hultzen is the ace of the Cavaliers’ staff as the two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year. He was MVP of the NCAA Charlottesville Regional this past weekend after beating St. John’s with 12 strikeouts and batting 7-for-11 (.636) in three games.

Most analysts expected Seattle to opt for Rice third baseman Rendon, though he’d suffered from shoulder problems this past season. The Mariners also passed on standout high school outfielder Starling, another risk given he has signed a football scholarship to play quarterback at Nebraska.

The Mariners have selected pitchers with their first pick in five of the past six drafts. Zduriencik ticks off the names of Felix Hernandez, Michael Pineda, last year’s picks Taijuan Walker and James Paxton and promising youngster Erasmo Ramirez, then adds Hultzen and can’t help but smile.

“We all know pitching is a premium,” Zduriencik said. “Left handed is a very desirable commodity in our industry and when you add all the other things about this particular player, that’s why we think it’s the right pick. Believe me, I would have loved to have three more picks — we could have done a whole lot of damage — but you make one call and this is the call that we made.”

The Mariners’ latest addition grew up a long way from Seattle, but certainly knows about the club and its recent history.

“I’m very excited. It’s a great organization,” Hultzen said. “I remember the first Major League hat I got was a Seattle Mariners hat. I remember watching Ken Griffey Jr. and guys like Jay Buhner and Randy Johnson. I’m very excited to be part of that organization. … Griffey was my guy growing up.”

Seattle has had the No. 2 pick two of the last three years, having selected Dustin Ackley out of North Carolina in that spot in 2009.

Picking second doesn’t guarantee a future Major League standout, but there have been plenty to come up from that spot in recent years. From 2002-06, the players picked second were B.J. Upton, Rickie Weeks, Justin Verlander and Alex Gordon.

The more recent No. 2s haven’t yet reached the big leagues, but include highly regarded prospects like Ackley and Kansas City’s Mike Moustakas.

The Mariners had only one pick in Monday’s first round and sandwich picks. They’ll have the second pick on Tuesday (62nd overall) when the Draft resumes with rounds 2-30.

Live coverage of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft resumes at 9 a.m. PT on Tuesday on MLB.com, where fans will receive exclusive coverage of Day 2 and 3, featuring a live pick-by-pick stream, expert commentary and Draft Tracker, a live interactive application that includes a searchable database of every Draft-eligible player.

Reliever Jeff Gray finally got in his first game with the Mariners on Tuesday, 10 days after he was claimed off waivers from the White Sox. He retired both batters he faced in the eighth inning of the 4-2 loss to the Twins.

For the 29-year-old, it was nice to finally get his feet wet. He’d last pitched 14 days earlier for the White Sox, throwing three scoreless innings against the Angels on May 10.

“It was good to get back out on the mound and show these guys I can play a little bit and help the team out,” Gray said Wednesday morning as the club prepared for its series finale in Minnesota.

Gray spent just four days in Seattle during the club’s last homestand, but his wife is heading there this week to help find a place to live.

“I’ve been there a couple times with other teams and have enjoyed it, so, hopefully, we can get settled in real quick,” said Gray. “She’s visited before and loves Seattle, so it should be pretty easy.”

Gray threw every other day or so in the bullpen to stay sharp in the past two weeks, but manager Eric Wedge acknowledged it was a unique situation with the way he’s had to use — or not use — the bullpen recently.

“It’s been an unbelievable year in regard to that,” Wedge said. “I’ve never been through anything like this. But, hey, it’s a good thing. Our starting pitchers are going so deep and the games are so tight. He looked good, though. He hasn’t been out there literally in two weeks. It was still a fairly tight ball game. He came in and looked good. So, yeah, it was good to get him out there.”

It was test day at Seattle’s Beacon Hill International School, and fourth and fifth graders labored over reading and math.

But for the kindergarteners, first, second and third graders, part of Thursday afternoon was spent with Ichiro Suzuki and a group of Seattle Mariners, learning life lessons about achieving their dreams.

The occasion was the 14th annual Seattle Mariners Education Day. Mariners players, coaches, manager Eric Wedge and broadcasters Dave Sims and Rick Rizzs fanned out across the greater Seattle area to visit six elementary schools. They challenged the students to join the Mariner Moose DREAM Team by pledging to follow the DREAM principles — Drug free, Respect for yourself and others, Education, Attitude and Motivation.

At each school, players and coaches spoke from experience about how the DREAM Team principles helped them get where they are today.

Coach Jaime Navarro challenged the students to stay away from drugs with those three little words: “Just Say No.” After a little prompting, the students chanted in unison.

Wedge, who visited Seattle’s View Ridge Elementary, said he hoped their words would have a positive impact on the children.

“I’ve spoken at a lot of schools, and I always enjoy doing it. Sitting in a room like that … all those kids have a chance,” Wedge said. “With proper guidance, every one of those kids can succeed and thrive. Feeling like you may be able to play a small part in that by delivering a message is a great feeling.”

Sometimes, a sports hero can be a more effective messenger, according to Beacon Hill International School principal Susie Murphy.

“For many of our children, these are their heroes,” Murphy said. “They are the people they see on television and they seem bigger than life, and to see them here, in their school, they’re so excited.

“It’s a tremendous experience for the children to have when people from the sports world come in and talk to them about the things that we’re telling them, or their parents are telling them that they need to do in order to be successful in school. It’s a huge thing for them.”

Mariners pitcher Dan Cortes, who visited Parkside Elementary in the Highline School District, remembered such an experience when he was a child.

“Daryl Strawberry showed up to our school one time and told us about his problems and what we would have to do to avoid situations he was in,” Cortes said. “It was an awe-inspiring experience, because a Major League baseball player, who was popular at the time, came to our school and talked to us kids. It became one of those times that I remember to the fullest, and it was just an awesome experience.”

The sports heros’ message, according to Doug Rutherford, principal of Mark Twain Elementary, is just as important.

“Their presence alone gains tremendous interest from our students, but the DREAM message they shared with us reinforces our daily message to the students,” he said. “They are positive role models for our students to look up to.”

Kulani Chan, 7, a second grader at Beacon Hill International School, got the message.

“I thought it was amazing,” Chan said. “My favorite letter of the DREAM was ‘R’ for Respect, because I should respect my parents, teachers and others.”

Classmate Delaney Blanford, also 7, took Navarro’s anti-drug message to heart, “because you should never take drugs, ever. Even if it’s good medicine, if you take too much, it can become bad.”

The students aren’t the only ones who took away something positive from the experience.

“I always look forward to going out to the local schools and speaking with the kids,” said Mariners pitcher Shawn Kelley. “Seeing the kids get so excited when we arrive and then being able to interact with them during the assembly makes for a very rewarding day.”

“It’s important to get out there and show everybody that we’re just normal people and we’re here to help how we can, whether that’s education-wise or sports-wise,” said pitcher Chris Gimenez. “It’s important to get out there and become closer to the community so they have more of a relationship with you as a team.”

Even though the theme of the day was a serious one, and the lessons were important, there was also time for fun — with a Mariners highlight reel set to the percussive, reggae-infused “Cobrastyle” by the Teddybears.

For 8-year-old Nat Beaumont, that was the best part of the day — especially because it featured his hero, Ichiro.

“He’s a really good player and he’s good at catching the balls that might have been home runs that the other teams hit,” Beaumont said. “And he’s a good batter, too.”

At the end of the day, each student left with a picture of the Mariner Moose, the DREAM Team principles, autographs from the team, and perhaps, memories that will last a lifetime.

Rookie right-hander Michael Pineda continues to impress, and the Mariners continue to play inspired baseball when he’s on the mound.

In his third Major League start, Pineda dialed up another gem with a three-hitter through six innings and Brendan Ryan made Pineda a winner again with a two-run, go-ahead single in the seventh inning that lifted the Mariners over the Royals, 3-2, at Kauffman Stadium.

The Pineda factor is becoming a big factor.

Pineda (2-1) has 40 percent of the Mariners’ wins and became just the second pitcher in club history to record a quality start in each of his first three career outings — joining Bob Stoddard in 1981.

“I can’t say enough about this guy,” Ryan said of Pineda. “I’ve said from the end of Spring Training this guy has a legitimate shot to be Rookie of the Year. When you make guys look the way they do with all three pitches. … he’s outstanding and he’s only going to get better.”

From the batter’s box view, Pineda’s stuff looked just as impressive.

“You have to give him credit,” Royals right fielder Jeff Francoeur said. “That’s as good a young arm as I’ve seen in a long time.”

Seattle (5-11) couldn’t break through against Royals left-hander Jeff Francis for five innings, and it seemed that Pineda might be destined for a tough-luck loss or no-decision after Brayan Pena delivered a sacrifice fly in the fifth to put the Royals up 1-0.

But the Mariners got it going in the sixth when Milton Bradley produced an opposite-field RBI triple that tied the game. It was Seattle’s first triple this year and couldn’t have come at a better time.

Pineda delivered one more shutdown inning and then Justin Smoak and Miguel Olivo opened the seventh with singles. Olivo’s hit snapped an 0-for-27 slump. After Ryan Langerhans laid down a sacrifice bunt, Ryan greeted reliever Blake Wood with the kind of clutch hit Seattle has been missing most of the season.

Ryan took advantage of an elevated pitch and lined a clean single to left. Relievers Jamey Wright and Brandon League made the lead hold up, although the Royals put the potential tying run at second in the ninth.

“I just happened to be the guy who didn’t hit a ball at somebody today,” Ryan said. “The ball was elevated and I was lucky to get my hands inside of it.”

Pineda’s reaction when he saw Ryan’s liner to left skip on the outfield grass was one of glee.

Said Pineda: “I’m thinking ‘yeah, I want to win it.’”

Pineda did just that, with a big assist from the bullpen.

Pineda left after throwing 94 pitches. He struck out five, walked four and generally picked up efficiency-wise where he left off in a win over Toronto last Tuesday.

The Royals had a lineup with six left-handed hitters to go against Pineda.

“A lot of fastballs in and change-ups away,” Pineda said of his plan against the lefties.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge, who addressed his team in a postgame meeting on Saturday, was pleased with the manner in which his players responded.

“We had much better at-bats, a lot of hard outs today,” Wedge said. “Defensively, we were really good. We made some tough plays in a game where you have to make those plays.”

One of those tough plays came in the ninth when the Royals threatened to extend their early-season penchant for comeback victories.

With a man at first and one out, Francoeur hit a tough bouncer toward shortstop that Ryan was able to knock down and keep in front of him. Ryan scrambled quickly for the ball and had the composure to go to first where he got Francoeur. Wilson Betemit singled home a run to make it 3-2 and pinch-runner Mike Aviles stole second. But Brandon League picked up the save by getting Pena on a roller to second.

The Mariners head home with hopes that Sunday’s win will be a springboard toward making the last two weeks of April much more productive that the first two weeks.

“I think I can speak for everybody that we’re not having fun right now,” Ryan said. “I’m not having any fun. That’s not how I wanted to start the season, personally and as a team. We’re going to get better. Hopefully, things will start falling our way, because they just haven’t so far.”

Except when Pineda is on the mound. Those have been the days when the Mariners have had plenty of reasons to smile.

Don’t ask Mariners manager Eric Wedge if he’s looking forward to facing his former team. Wedge, who began his managing career with the Indians, will face the organization that helped him develop for the first time on Friday. True to form, though, Wedge is more interested in making sure Seattle has a productive home opener than anything else.

“Who we’re playing is not relevant to me,” said Wedge. “But being home and getting back home in front of our fans, I’m really excited about that. I have a house in Seattle and my family is in Seattle, but I don’t feel like I’ve been there in forever.”

Wedge, whose playing career was derailed by four operations on his elbow and four more on his knees, began managing in Cleveland’s chain as a 30-year-old. Wedge began with Class A Columbus and moved up over the next few years, culminating in a two-season run with Triple-A Buffalo that saw him named the International League Manager of the Year.

The Indians called him up to manage the parent club in 2003, and Wedge led the club to two 90-win seasons in his first five years on the job. Cleveland fell to 81-81 in ’08 and to 65-97 in ’09, though, prompting the team to make a change. Now, Wedge is back in the dugout and presiding over a team with experienced players and talented youngsters alike.

Wedge and his coaches have experience watching young players mold into legitimate Major League talents. They left their mark on several current members of the Tribe, most notably former Mariners prospect Shin-Soo Choo, who has become one of the game’s most feared hitters.

Choo said he is happy to see Wedge, third-base coach Jeff Datz (who was a bench and outfield coach in Cleveland) and pitching coach Carl Willis reunited in Seattle.

“I’m really happy for them that they got a new job,” Choo said. “I really, really appreciate Wedge. I saw him in Spring Training, and he told me, ‘Choo, I’m happy for you.’ And I said, ‘No, no. You gave me the opportunity.’ And Datzy, he worried about me in the outfield. If I made a mistake, he would tell me right away. I really appreciate every one of those coaches.”

All appreciation aside, there’s a job to be done for both of these clubs.

The Mariners are 21-13 in their history in home openers, and they’re 6-3 in home openers after starting their season on the road. They’ll need to capitalize on that trend, because they’ll be heading home on the heels of a four-game losing streak. Seattle won the first two games of its season, but then lost to Oakland and was swept in three games by the Rangers.

Seattle will turn to Jason Vargas in Friday’s series opener, and he’ll be matched against Cleveland youngster Carlos Carrasco. Vargas pitched into the seventh inning and left with the lead in his season debut, but he wound up with a no-decision. The southpaw is coming off a huge season, and he hopes to be able to continue his momentum in front of the home crowd.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be exciting,” said Vargas. “The fans have been waiting a while to see us.”

Carrasco was hit hard in his first start, coughing up seven runs on 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings in a loss to the White Sox. The Indians will need a better effort than that if they’re going to carry over the momentum of their four-game win streak, which was punctuated by an impressive sweep of the Red Sox.

Indians: Bullpen performance carries over
The bullpen is the most volatile area in the game, so teams never quite know what they’re going to get from their relief corps. But one key to the Indians’ strong start has been the positive performance from the ‘pen, which has carried over from the second half of last season.

Chris Perez is locked in the closer’s role and has looked sharp, notching two saves in three scoreless appearances. But a reliable closer would be useless without arms to set him up, and the Indians have two valuable ones from the left-hand side in Tony Sipp and Rafael Perez. Perez’s eighth-inning performance was pivotal in preserving the shutout of the Red Sox on Thursday.

“Those two left-handers are quality left-handers, regardless of what year it is,” manager Manny Acta said. “Tony has a pretty good fastball, good slider and changeup. He’s pitching down in the zone and has some deception where the ball gets on top of the hitters pretty quick. And Raffy is a guy whose ball moves all over the plate. He’s got a lot of movement on his pitches and he’s thrown some good sliders. Those are lefties who have done it in the past, so they’re set in there.”

Mariners: Ichiro ready to start 11th season in Seattle
Ichiro Suzuki made an instant impact upon his move to Major League Baseball, but it’s even more interesting to see what he’s done with a decade. Suzuki, who has 10 straight 200-hit seasons and 10 consecutive All-Star berths on his resume, got his first hit on April 2, 2001, and exactly 10 years later, he notched two infield hits to become Seattle’s all-time hit king.

Ichiro now has 2,250 career hits, and he passed Edgar Martinez (2,247) in the first week of the season for the club record. Now he can begin his assault on 3,000 hits, a mark he can reach within the next four years if he maintains his pace. The veteran is in good company, as only three other current big leaguers — Todd Helton, Derek Jeter and Michael Young — are their team’s hit kings.

Worth noting
Seattle’s Felix Hernandez, who turns 25 Friday, is one of just nine pitchers since 1900 to record more than 172 starts before their 25th birthday. Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, Hal Newhouser and Catfish Hunter are also on that list. … Mariners catcher Miguel Olivo, who missed three weeks in Spring Training with a strained left groin, should be back in the lineup for Friday’s game. … The Mariners had an off-day on Thursday and will now play 17 consecutive games, a stretch that will take them into late April. … The Indians swept the Red Sox in a series for the first time since 2001. … Fausto Carmona became the first Indians pitcher to pitch at least five shutout innings after allowing 10 or more runs in his previous start since left-hander Dave Otto in 1992.