Mariners notes: Seattle drops pair of Cactus League games
Published 6:50 pm Sunday, March 5, 2017
PEORIA, Ariz. — On the first day that departures to the World Baseball Classic gutted their lineup, the Mariners were forced to split their remaining roster Sunday for a pair of games.
They responded by calling up 25 players from minor-league minicamp and lost both games.
It wasn’t all bad.
Felix Hernandez got better as he worked through his three innings against Oakland at Peoria Stadium. He gave up two runs but departed with the lead before Oakland rallied for a 5-4 victory.
The Mariners’ other squad lost 7-3 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Glendale, Arizona.
Kyle Waldrop’s three-run homer gave the Mariners a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning, but three infield errors by call-ups allowed Los Angeles to score five unearned runs.
The Mariners dropped to 6-4 and, while they need to get used to playing without many of their top players, they don’t have another split-squad date until March 19. By then, at least some of the WBC players should be back.
Hernandez started and ended his first inning with strikeouts. In-between, he gave up two runs on three hits. Ryon Healy had a two-out RBI double past third, and Mark Canha followed with an RBI single to center.
“It was good,” said Hernandez, who retired six of seven batters in the final two innings. “The first inning was a little rough, but after that, it was fine. The last inning was real good.”
The Mariners got one run back in the second when Boog Powell tripled to right and scored on Shawn O’Malley’s ground out.
Doubles in the third inning by Guillermo Heredia and Dan Vogelbach tied the game before the Mariners took the lead on Chooch Ruiz’s RBI single into the left-field corner.
Oakland regained the lead at 4-3 by scoring two runs in the fifth inning against newcomer Chase De Jong. The Athletics added another run in the eighth inning against Thyago Vieira.
D.J. Peterson’s leadoff homer later in the eighth pulled the Mariners to within 5-4, but they got no closer.
Play of the game
The good and the bad.
Second baseman Mike Freeman saved a run for Hernandez by making a diving stop on Alejandro De Aza’s sharp two-out hopper headed through the hole between first and second in the second inning.
Freeman got to his feet in time to get the out at first. A single would have scored a runner from second.
As good as that play was, Freeman let a routine two-out grounder go through his legs in the fourth inning that permitted a run to score.
Plus
Closer Edwin Diaz worked a one-two-three inning against the Dodgers in his final tuneup before joining Puerto Rico in the WBC. … Vogelbach had two hits in three at-bats and is 7-for-20 this spring (.350). … Powell was 2-for-3 with a triple. … Andrew Moore started against the Dodgers and pitched two scoreless innings.
Minus
A rough first inning for De Jong, who gave up two runs in the fifth — although it wasn’t all his fault. There was a one-out triple when Powell tried for a diving catch on a sinking liner to left field. Freeman’s error permitted the other run. … Kyle Seager and Leonys Martin were each 0-for-3 against Oakland. … Jarrod Dyson was 0-for-3 against the Dodgers. … Vieira had three walks in a 32-pitch eighth inning against Oakland but stranded three runners.
Spring battles
In the competition for a spot in the Mariners outfielder, Ben Gamel went 0-2 in Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the Dodgers, and Heredia had a double and a walk in three plate appearances in a 5-4 loss to the Athletics. Gamel is hitting .238 this spring (5-for-21) and Heredia is batting .533 (8-for 15) with two walks for a .588 on-base percentage. … James Pazos, who is fighting for the one of the lefty spots in the Seattle bullpen, worked around a one-out single against the Athletics by recording back-to-back strikeouts. He has three scoreless one-inning appearances this spring
See you later, Felix
Hernandez departed after Sunday’s game against the Athletics to join Venezuela for the World Baseball Classic. He is scheduled to start his nation’s tournament opener Friday against Puerto Rico in Jalisco, Mexico.
“It’s really important to give Venezuela a victory,” he said, “after everything that is happening (in the country) and the situation being so bad, a win for Venezuela will be meaningful.”
Short hops
The Mariners play a “B” game Monday morning against San Diego in order to get work for some pitchers. Right-hander Rob Whalen is scheduled to start and pitch two innings. Also scheduled for time on the mound are Dan Altavilla, Marc Rzepczynski, Nick Vincent, Shae Simmons and Peter Tago.
Up next
Left-hander Drew Smyly looks to build on a strong spring debut when the Mariners face Texas at 12:10 p.m. Monday at Peoria Stadium.
Smyly is slotted for three innings. He pitched two scoreless innings last Wednesday against Cleveland. Also slated to pitch for Seattle are Max Povse, Cody Martin, Nick Hagadone and Jean Machi.
