SEATTLE — While it was Dae-Ho Lee’s walk-off homer Wednesday that seized the moment, the other notable development was a strong outing by right-hander Taijuan Walker in a game the Seattle Mariners needed to have.
Walker limited Texas to one tainted run over six innings before Lee’s launched his two-run shot in the 10th inning for a 4-2 victory.
“Taijuan Walker was awesome,” manager Scott Servais said. “He really dialed it up late in the game. They ran some long at-bats against him in the first inning. We were trying to get him through six because of where we’re at with our bullpen.
“He really stepped up and got some big outs late.”
Walker survived a 30-pitch first inning in a 108-pitch effort. He turned over a 2-1 lead to the bullpen, but the Rangers pulled even on Delino DeShields’ leadoff homer in the eighth inning against reliever Joel Peralta.
The Mariners needed a big game from Walker after losing the first five games of their season-opening homestand.
“It was one of those situations,” he said, “where you’ve got to keep everything calm and stick to the game plan. You can’t really go out there and (try) to do too much just because we have a losing streak.
“I’ve just got to go out there and pitch my game.”
Walker even showed some emotion as he barked at umpire Laz Diaz while walking to the dugout after his final inning.
“I just thought it was a pretty good pitch (earlier in the inning),” Walker said. “I saw he was calling it (earlier) … A lot of emotions. I really wanted that pitch.”
This makes two quality starts this season for Walker, who has allowed three earned runs over his 12 innings.
Most impressive, perhaps, was the way he pitched out of trouble in the first inning — when the Rangers loaded the bases by sandwiching two walks around a single — and then by pitching through the sixth.
“He’s growing up and maturing before our eyes here,” Servais said. “He has a chance to have a big year for us. It took him a little while. We didn’t see the big fastball until real late.
“He kind of dug deep and got a little extra, which was nice to see.”
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