No walk in the park, but Piņeiro will take it

Given his previous struggles against the Red Sox, Seattle righthander Joel Piñeiro, who owned a 2-5 career record and 7.71 ERA in eight starts against Boston, figured it was going to be more of the same when he loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning of yesterday's game at Fenway Park.

Despite facing a bit of a diluted lineup, with supporting cast members hitting in the leadoff and Nos. 2, 6, and 8 spots in Terry Francona's order, it looked as though it wouldn't be long before Piñeiro got the hook, especially when he walked Josh Bard to load the bases after a 12-pitch duel.

''I was going to ask him, 'What do you want?' " Piñeiro joked. ''I threw him a changeup, a curveball, everything, and he kept fouling it off, so I was kind of looking at him and saying, 'What do you want?' But it was a great battle and he came out on top when I walked him, but thank God it didn't come back to haunt me. So that was a big key."

Indeed, Piñeiro survived the jam and lived to tell the tale by throwing 6 1/3 innings of five-hit, five-strikeout ball in a combined 3-0 shutout of the Sox.

''Definitely, I've never pitched well in this ballpark, and, yeah, you could say I was due," said Piñeiro (2-1, 3.66 ERA), who recorded his first triumph at Fenway Park after going 0-3 with a 7.50 ERA at the yard. ''But I've always tried to go out there, and not just against this team, but any team, and keep the ball down, make my pitches, and not try to do too much . . . just try to come up with stuff out there."

After a visit from pitching coach Rafael Chavez, Piñeiro escaped the jam by fanning the next two batters, getting No. 9 hitter Alex Gonzalez looking and leadoff man Adam Stern swinging. Piñeiro then induced Alex Cora to ground to second.

''He scuffled there for a few innings," said Seattle manager Mike Hargrove. ''Chavy made that trip, and it was a trip worth making. I think Joel was just trying to be a little too fine, a little too cute, instead of just going after guys and letting his stuff work for him. He settled in and changed into Harry Houdini."

After loading the bases in the second, Piñeiro morphed into Toronto's Ted Lilly, retiring 15 of the next 16 batters to snap an 0-5 skein (9.87 ERA) in his six previous starts vs. Boston.

''When he's on his game, he's got the experience and the confidence to do that," Hargrove said. ''It's good to see when a pitcher feels that sort of confidence. I can't imagine pitching with the bases loaded with nobody out. I wouldn't want to be on the mound. I'd want to be somewhere in Tibet, probably, but he did a good job."

How did Piñeiro think he got out of that second inning?

''Great sinker, great curveball today," he said. ''I haven't been using my curveball that much, but today I threw a lot of them and it turned out good. And Rene [Rivera] called a great game behind the plate, too, we were on the same page kind of early, so that helped out."

Piñeiro also held David Ortiz, Manny Ramírez, and Kevin Youkilis -- the heart of Boston's lineup -- to a combined 2 for 9, with Ortiz and Ramírez managing first-inning singles to center.

''If you let David and Manny just hit their singles, that's a big key," said Piñeiro, who had not beaten the Red Sox in four years and had dropped five consecutive starts from Aug. 16, 2003, to May 8, 2005. ''You've got to worry about those guys hitting the ball out of the ballpark, because they can turn around the game pretty quick."

Piñeiro's exit was hastened in the seventh after 111 pitches when Wily Mo Peña (single to right) and Gonzalez (hit by pitch) reached. J.J. Putz came on to get out of that inning and strike out the side in the eighth, and Eddie Guardado closed it out.

''[Piñeiro] kept them off balance and he kept the ball down, but that second inning was unbelievable, to get out of that jam," marveled Putz. ''That inning can get really long and now you're looking at maybe not getting into the fifth inning. I think he had somewhere like 50 pitches after two innings.

''But then he just put them on lockdown and just kind of cruised, got into the seventh inning, and allowed us to do our job and get the last eight outs."