Mariners shut out Cardinals

AP Sports Writer

SEATTLE (AP) -- Joel Pineiro earned his first major league shutout because third-base umpire Larry Vanover took away a home run.

Pineiro pitched a five-hitter to lead the Seattle Mariners over the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 Wednesday night. But in the sixth inning it seemed as if the shutout was gone

St. Louis' Eli Marrero hit a shot into the left-field stands, and Vanover initially ruled the ball fair. The Mariners were in disbelief. Seattle catcher Dan Wilson went down the line to argue with Vanover.

"That's a big point in the game," Wilson said. "Any time you can continue to shut the other team down, it's important. You never know there if a run kind of gives them some confidence."

Vanover changed his call after Seattle manager Lou Piniella appealed to crew chief Randy Marsh, and Marsh huddled with plate umpire Angel Hernandez and the other umpires.

"I thought it was foul by at least a foot or something like that," Pineiro said. "When he called it fair, I told Angelo (the plate umpire), you know that was a foul ball."

Teammate Mark McLemore was impressed by the reversal.

"A lot of umpires wouldn't have changed that call," he said. "They make the call and that's it. Sometimes, it's an ego thing."

After two innings, Pineiro (5-3) had a 5-0 lead because of home runs by McLemore and John Olerud.

Pineiro, who ended a personal three-game losing streak, allowed five singles and walked none. Pineiro struck out six in registering his first complete game.

"He had great command of all his pitches," Piniella said. "You can't pitch any better than that."

Pineiro threw only 105 pitches in winning for the first time since May 16. He faced only 29 batters because the Mariners had three double plays.

The Cardinals were blanked twice in a series for the first time since June 1995 at Houston.

The Mariners took a 4-0 lead off Darryl Kile (4-4) in the second on consecutive singles by Carlos Guillen, Bret Boone and Jeff Cirillo, and McLemore's sixth homer of the season.

McLemore was 1-for-15 in the series before his 362-foot homer to right.

In the third, Olerud put Seattle ahead 5-0 with his 10th homer of the season, extending his hitting streak to 14 games.

Kile lasted 4 1-3 innings, his shortest outing since 2000, the year he was a 20-game winner. He gave up five runs on seven hits, with no walks and five strikeouts. He had won his last three decisions.

The Cardinals are 5-5 without Jim Edmonds, who has been out with a sprained right wrist since June 1. Edmonds is third in the NL with a .341 batting average.

"I'm not going to tell you we're not a better ballclub when he plays, but we've won five times without him," manager Tony La Russa said. "So there is still a way to win when your key guy is not playing."

Notes: The last time the Mariners shut out an opponent twice in the same series was last September when they blanked Anaheim 4-0 in 5-0 in consecutive games. ... Pineiro's previous longest career outing was 7 2-3 innings. He had done that twice. ... Kile came out after two innings after a long rain delay against Los Angeles June 24, 2000, when he didn't give up any runs. On April 13, 2000, he lasted 1 2-3 innings at Colorado when he surrendered eight runs on 11 hits.