Nobody quite knew what to expect from Milton Bradley when he arrived at spring training. He’d dealt with recent off-field issues _ his January arrest in Southern California on charges of making a threat against a woman and a meeting scheduled this month with prosecutors on the case _ and came to camp with uncertainties about his game as well.
Bradley had knee surgery to end a difficult season in 2010 and he needed to prove that he was healthy again in order to be productive in 2011. So far, Bradley has been what the Mariners have needed on the field. Today, he went 3-for-3 with two RBI and a stolen base in the Mariners’ 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers.
“He’s enjoying himself. He’s enjoying his teammates,” manager Eric Wedge said. “I love his work ethic. His approach has been good. We just want to see him sustain that.”
Bradley singled in the first inning, drove home a run with a single in the third and hit an RBI double in the fifth. He also stole a base in the third inning but was trapped off second base and tagged out.
“Coming into camp, I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself, but there’s a certain amount of accountability to this team,” Bradley said. “I wanted to be in shape, I wanted to be swinging the bat well.”
Bradley is 4-for-6 in two games.
As for the “other” stuff, Bradley has been a model teammate who has delivered high-fives and hugs during morning workouts. And, he has ignored any remarks he has heard in the crowd at Peoria Stadium. Sunday, one fan booed when he was introduced before his first at-bat.
“I heard him,” Bradley said. “One guy, and no one joined him. Today there was one guy in the outfield, yelling ‘Drop the ball!’ and ‘Nice base-running!’ I figure I had one guy like that and a stadium full of people behind me. When self doubt creeps in, you hear those voices a little more loudly. The key is not to let them in.”
Other notes at the end of the day:
• Veteran Nate Robertson allowed three hits and struck out three in two scoreless innings, but it was a trio of young right-handed pitchers hoping to make the team that got much of the attention in Tuesday’s game.
Blake Beavan allowed three hits, a walk and two runs in two innings, right-hander Josh Lueke gave up a hit in one scoreless inning and Dan Cortes gave up one hit and struck out one in a scoreless inning.
Wedge’s evaluation was, as you’d expect so early, general.
“We pitched well today,” Wedge said. “I liked what we saw from everybody. Different types of pitchers, different types of innings.”
• Left-hander Royce Ring pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning, as did left-hander Fabio Castro in the eighth. Denny Bautista struggled early with his control in the ninth and allowed two hits and two runs to make the game close before getting the final two outs with a runner on second.
• The Mariners expect test results by this weekend on Franklin Gutierrez’s stomach problems. Why has it taken so long? Because there were multiple tests performed last Thursday in Seattle, it’s taking that long to gather all the results and come up with a remedy.
• Catcher Steven Baron, who hit three home runs in 53 games last year with the Everett AquaSox, hit his first spring training homer with a drive over the left-field fence in the eighth inning.
• Adam Kennedy started at first base and homered in the second inning with a fly down the right-field line. Just guessing here, but Justin Smoak’s job is safe.
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