Mariners Notebook: Angels bring out devil in Guillen

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Two teams and more than two years removed from his ugly departure from the Los Angeles Angels, you'd think Jose Guillen would be over it.

You'd be wrong.

"Against these guys, I'm gonna tell you straightforward, the anger comes out of me," the Mariners right fielder said Friday. "I want to kill all those guys."

Despite his reputation as an angry guy, Guillen meant "kill" in the competitive, not the literal, sense. Metaphorically, he helped kill the Angels on Friday, hitting a two-run homer in the first inning and going 3-for-4 in Seattle's 10-6 victory.

"I love a lot of those guys I played with over there, but there's some guys I don't really love over there, and I want to show them something," Guillen said. "The decision they made was a stupid one, and it should have been handled different.

"I (wish) we could play them 162 times. That's going to be my motivation. And trust me, that's not good when Jose Guillen gets motivated. I really step up to a really different level."

Guillen had an outstanding season for the Angels in 2004, batting .294 with 27 homers and 104 RBIs. But with two weeks left in the regular season, the outfielder publicly criticized manager Mike Scioscia after Scioscia lifted him for a pinch runner in a key game. Scioscia responded by suspending Guillen for the remainder of the regular season and the postseason for insubordination.

Guillen was traded to the Washington Nationals that winter, and when the Angels and Nationals played the next season, Washington manager Frank Robinson asked umpires to check Angels pitcher Brendan Donnelly's glove for pine tar -- reportedly on a tip from Guillen. Donnelly was ejected, Robinson and Scioscia got into a heated discussion, the benches emptied, and Guillen hit a game-tying, eighth-inning homer in a Nationals victory.

The next day Guillen railed against Scioscia to reporters, calling him "a piece of garbage" and saying "he can go to hell."

The animosity remains, and as long as Guillen can harness it on the field, the Mariners should be glad. In two Cactus League games against the Angels this spring, Guillen is 5-for-7 with two home runs, two doubles and five RBIs.

Friday he was greeted with boos from the Angels faithful, then brought Mariners fans to their feet when he parked a 2-2 offering from former teammate John Lackey on the left-field lawn. He admits to sneaking a glance at Scioscia while headed for first base.

"I'll always have something to prove to those guys," Guillen said. "Not to the players maybe, but to the manager. Usually I couldn't care less about spring training, but against that team I care. To me, I take it like it's the (regular) season."

The good news for Seattle fans is that once the games do count, the Mariners and Angels are scheduled to play 19 times.

"It's going to be 19 exciting, good games, I can tell you that," Guillen said. "You can write that down. It's going to be 19 exciting games. It's going to be crazy when we go to Anaheim, but I know how to handle it. I do not (feel) pressure from anyone, and I will prove it on the field."

BETANCOURT TO TESTIFY: The Mariners are waiting to hear when shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt will be asked to testify in the Florida trial of agent Gus Dominguez.

It is likely he will miss at least one game in the first week or two of the season, and possibly more.

The trial in Key West, which is supposed to last four to seven days, starts on April 4, the final day of the Mariners' opening homestand against Oakland. Seattle is off the next day and starts the first road trip of the season on April 6 in Cleveland.

Betancourt, who has not been charged with any crime, reportedly is the prosecution's top witness against Dominguez, who is alleged to have smuggled Betancourt and many others from Cuba into the U.S. illegally.

Prosecutors have issued a 53-count indictment against Dominguez and co-defendants Geoffrey Rodrigues, Robert Yosvany Hernandez and Guillermo Valdez with conspiring in 2003 and 2004 to bring Cuban ballplayers into Florida aboard "fast boats."

They are further accused of getting the players from Florida to California, setting them up in apartments, training them and representing them in lucrative free-agent deals with major league teams.

J.J., RHODES GET CLOSER: J.J. Putz and Arthur Rhodes both threw off a mound in the bullpen Friday, getting the relievers one step nearer to returning to game action.

Putz, the closer who hasn't pitched in a game since March 5 because of elbow soreness, will throw in the bullpen again Sunday, then is scheduled to pitch in a minor league game Tuesday.

Setup reliever Rhodes, who has had minor left elbow stiffness, will probably throw in a game Monday.

Rhodes and Putz should be healthy enough to start the season, but the Mariners are concerned about the number of innings Putz will have thrown.

"We may leave (Arizona) with an 11-man staff and leave J.J. behind," manager Mike Hargrove said.

"That doesn't mean he'd go on the disabled list. And we'd rather not have to do it, but if he's not quite ready, we could."

WASHOUT: Powerful thunderstorms lashed the Phoenix area Thursday, but the Mariners, playing 100 miles away in Tucson, avoided the worst of it. The Mariners and White Sox had a 47-minute rain delay but had the only complete game in the Cactus League.

There was remaining fallout from the storm Friday morning, as the Mariners found their practice fields waterlogged. Full batting practice and fielding drills were canceled in favor of hitting in the batting cages.

"It's not a big deal," said bench coach John McLaren, who runs the spring camp. "Coming back from Tucson, it's maybe not a bad thing. Everybody probably could use a little break."

NOTES: On the way from Peoria Stadium back to the clubhouse Friday, the Mariners encountered a particularly persistent group of kids pleading for autographs. Utility man Ben Broussard went into the clubhouse and got a box of broken bats, signed them and slid them under a fence to the kids. ... The Mariners have homered in seven consecutive games and 13 of the past 15. ... OF Tony Torcato was reassigned to minor league camp, and four minor leaguers were released: RHP Ari Kafka, INF Marcos Villezcas, RHP Haley Winter and OF Jason Grove, a native of Walla Walla who played at Washington State. ... Monday's game against Texas, to be telecast on FSN, will begin at 6:05 p.m.

FRIDAY'S GAME IN REVIEW

THE SCORE: Mariners 10, Angels 6

THE SCENE: Mostly cloudy and 67 degrees for first pitch at Peoria Stadium, a sellout crowd of 12,204 on hand despite the possibility of rain.

STAR OF THE GAME: Seattle RF Jose Guillen went wild against his former team, hitting a two-run homer in the first inning and adding a fourth-inning double.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Adrian Beltre's two-run homer capped Seattle's seven-run fourth inning against John Lackey.

THE ARMS: Felix Hernandez, hours before being named the Opening Day starter, allowed four runs in six innings. He retired the first six men he faced, but gave up two-run singles in the third and fourth innings. Brandon Morrow was again spectacular, inducing fly balls from the three batters he faced, and hasn't allowed a run in five spring appearances. Julio Mateo pitched a perfect inning, then Aaron Small allowed two earned runs in the ninth.

THE BATS: The Mariners knocked Lackey all over the place in the fourth, sending 11 men to the plate and scoring seven runs. Guillen had three hits, and Jeremy Reed, Beltre, Yuniesky Betancourt, Mike Morse and Jose Lopez each had two.

THE GLOVES: The Mariners, who lead the majors in fewest errors this spring, didn't add to their total. Angels RF Vladimir Guerrero, meanwhile, committed two errors on the same play, booting the ball on Reed's single and allowing an extra run to score.

-- David Andriesen