Brandon Maurer made his first start for the Seattle Mariners during Spring Training on Thursday (March 7). Pitching against the Oakland Athletics in split-squad action, Maurer went three innings, allowing one run on four hits. Maurer also struck out four batters and at times looked really good against most of the regular Athletics starting lineup.
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The Mariners ended up losing the game due to six runs given up by the relievers. James Paxton came in to spell Maurer, giving up three runs and allowing five base runners in just 2/3 of an inning. After D.J. Mitchell went 1 1/3 innings, Jeremy Bonderman pitched three decent innings to finish off the game.
Through three games he has pitched in this spring, Maurer has posted a 1.50 ERA over six innings. That includes seven strikeouts, but several times where he has had to pitch out of jams. Maurer is starting to look pretty good on the mound and could potentially be a starting pitcher for the team this season if there weren't so many people ahead of him on the progression charts.
Bonderman has now pitched six innings of work as well, giving up six runs on eight hits and two walks in that time. This was probably his best outing of the spring on Thursday, but he will have to improve upon that quite a bit to stand a shot at making the Opening Day roster.
On offense against the Athletics, the Mariners scored three runs on 11 hits. The 11 hits were impressive again, with two each coming from Kendry Morales and Robert Andino. Morales is now 8-for-21 with this spring with a .381 batting average and Andino is 5-for-20 to post a .250 batting average.
After splitting the two games on Thursday, the Seattle Mariners now hold a 2013 Spring Training record of 11-3. On Friday (March 8), the team goes up against the Athletics again, with Hector Noesi getting another start for the squad.
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