Mariners 4, Padres 2

By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer

SAN DIEGO (AP) Getting through the first inning is usually the hard part for Joel Pineiro. After that, he's OK.

Pineiro held San Diego to five hits in seven innings and retired his last 12 batters as the Seattle Mariners beat the Padres 4-2 Saturday night.

Catcher Ben Davis tied the Seattle club record with three doubles and Ichiro Suzuki hit a leadoff double to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.

It was the second straight start in which Pineiro (7-5) allowed first-inning runs, then settled down. He allowed two runs on three hits to let the Padres tie the game, then allowed just two more hits.

``I don't know what it is,'' Davis said. ``It's like he flips a switch. In the first inning he just falls behind and they were taking advantage of it tonight. After that he really seemed to settle down and went right at these guys. He did an awesome job.''

Pineiro's only mistakes were bouncing a ball in the dirt to score one run and then hanging a breaking ball that Sean Burroughs hit for an RBI double.

``Other than that I felt fine,'' he said. ``I felt a lot better than I did in my last two starts in the first inning.''

On Monday against Anaheim, he allowed three runs on three hits in the first inning, then gave up just one hit after that in a 6-3 win.

After walking rookie Xavier Nady to open the fourth, Pineiro retired 12 straight. He struck out seven and walked one.

Padres right-hander Adam Eaton, who was born in Seattle, walked in two runs in the second inning to give the Mariners a 4-2 lead. Eaton (2-6) threw 54 pitches through two innings and was gone after five.

``After the first inning when they got the two runs back, and then after we scored two more, I said, `This has got to be it, I've got to stop them.' I did that,'' Pineiro said.

Arthur Rhodes pitched 1 1-3 innings and Shigetoshi Hasegawa got two outs for his first save since April 15, 2002.

``We just got shut down,'' Padres manager Bruce Bochy said. ``We couldn't get any momentum going.''

The first three Mariners' batters reached against Eaton, and Seattle went ahead 2-0 on Bret Boone's RBI single and Olerud's sacrifice fly.

Mark Kotsay and Mark Loretta singled to start the Padres' first. Kotsay scored on a wild pitch and Loretta scored on Sean Burroughs' double.

In the second, Suzuki was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out, bringing up Mark McLemore. Eaton walked McLemore on four straight pitches to force in a run, then walked Olerud with two outs to bring in another.

``I was definitely battling and struggling in the first two innings,'' Eaton said. ``My fastball was up and away in the strike zone. When I did throw a strike with it, they hit it.''

Eaton allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits, struck out six and walked five.< ^Notes:@ It was the 10th straight game in which the Mariners' starter went at least seven innings. ... David Bell was the last Mariners player to hit three doubles, against San Diego on July 15, 1999. ... Padres SS Ramon Vazquez, on the DL since June 1 with a strained lower abdominal muscle, is still 7-10 days away from being activated, manager Bruce Bochy said.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)