PEORIA, Ariz. — For nearly three weeks at spring training, Seattle Mariners fans have seen the Ken Griffey Jr. bat waggle and little else at the plate to remind them of the superstar from the 1990s.
Friday, Griffey offered something else: his first spring training home run.
He launched a high drive into the Milwaukee Brewers’ bullpen in the eighth inning, connecting on a hanging breaking pitch from left-hander Lindsay Gulin. The Brewers pitcher is from Issaquah.
“He was facing a pitcher who wasn’t throwing that hard, but for me just hitting a ball out of the ballpark, it stirs a lot of feelings that he’s still got something,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “It gave me 98-degree goosebumps.”
Griffey’s first three plate appearances were a continuation of what he’s experienced all spring, when he has struggled with his timing and rarely made solid contact.
He grounded into a double play to end the first inning, hit a soft popup to third base in the fourth and walked in the sixth.
Then, with a 1-1 count against Gulin in the eighth, he made his best contact of the month. The only uncertainty was whether the ball would stay fair. It did, landing in the bullpen about 10 feet inside the foul pole.
Griffey trotted around the bases and into the dugout, then out of the stadium after the inning had ended.
He will play his third straight game today, this time in left field, when the Mariners face the Oakland A’s.
Lowe at his best
In a game when closer candidates David Aardsma and Randy Messenger faltered, Mark Lowe pitched his best inning of the spring.
The right-hander gave up a leadoff double to Mike Rivera in the eighth but, throwing his best sinker yet, got the next three hitters out. He sprang off the mound to field Brad Nelson’s sacrifice bunt and, with Rivera on third, got Jason Bourgeois on a grounder to shortstop and struck out Mat Gamel with a crisp sinker.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen his ball really sink,” Wakamatsu said. “He mixed his pitches well and got out of that jam. That’s encouraging. It was good to see that sink and as we get closer and closer to figuring out this bullpen, those are things you like to see.”
Aardsma had his roughest inning so far, allowing four hits and three runs, including two home runs. The first homer, by J.J. Hardy, came on an 0-2 splitter.
Aardsma, who hadn’t allowed a run in seven innings, is working on a better breaking pitch.
“He threw an 0-2 split and left it up,” Wakamatsu said. “That’s his third-best pitch to a right-handed hitter. That’s a pitch that’s going to come a little bit later and I think it’s going to be a good one. But I think his slider’s a much better pitch.”
Messenger gave up a double to Hardy and a two-run homer to Casey McGehee. He has allowed 10 hits, including two homers, in his past 62/3 innings.
Of note
Brandon Morrow threw a 30-pitch simulated game against a few minor league hitters Friday morning and said his right arm continues to feel fine. Morrow, who hasn’t pitched in an exhibition since March 1 because of a tight right forearm, said he will throw in the bullpen Sunday and pitch in a game Tuesday. … Rob Johnson went 2-for-3 with a home run, lifting his spring average to .409, and also drew praise from Wakamatsu for how he handled the pitching. Johnson is competing for the backup catching job. … Tyler Johnson, trying to complete his recovery from shoulder surgery and become the Mariners’ left-handed relief specialist, didn’t throw a simulated game Friday as planned. Wakamatsu said he hasn’t suffered a setback, and that he will throw a simulated game today. … Reliever Roy Corcoran, who hasn’t pitched in a game since March 12 because of biceps tendinitis, is scheduled to pitch today against the A’s. … Tyler Walker, down this week because of back spasms, threw in the bullpen Friday morning. … Jack Del Rio, coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, spent some time at spring training Friday morning with Wakamatsu, who is a longtime friend. … The Mariners had some fun with team therapist Ken Roll, who stumbled and fell the previous day as he avoided being hit by a thrown ball. Using Griffey as a model, Russell Branyan used white tape to mark the outline of a sprawled body on the outfield grass, then Adrian Beltre performed a stumbling, bumbling reenactment, falling directly inside the outline.
Today in camp
Mariners vs. A’s, 1:05 p.m. at Peoria (KIRO radio, 710 AM and 97.3 FM). Left-hander Garrett Olson will start for the Mariners against left-hander Dallas Braden for the A’s.
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