Seattle Mariners news at Spring Training continues to be good as Franklin Gutierrez and Nick Franklin hit home runs on Thursday (Feb. 28). Playing against the San Francisco Giants and starting pitcher Matt Cain, the Mariners pulled out a 4-3 victory to move to 6-1 so far this spring.
Carlos Peguero Hits Two Home Runs
Justin Smoak also had a good day at the plate as he went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. The other run was accounted for by Alex Liddi, who drove in Jesus Montero to provide the team with a bit of insurance. The Mariners finished with four runs on nine hits while playing superb on the defensive side of the ball.
Jon Garland got his first start of the spring for the Mariners, pitching one scoreless inning before handing the ball to Blake Beavan. Beavan pitched his longest game this spring, going three innings while giving up two runs on two hits. Erasmus Ramirez, Tom Wilhelmsen, and Carter Capps each pitched a scoreless inning after that. During his inning, Capps struck out three Giants batters.
Scoring three runs off a pitcher as good as Cain shows that once again the Mariners may have figured things out on offense. The team has found a way to keep winning at Spring Training and this only bodes well for when the regular season finally gets started. Seeing Justin Smoak raise his batting average to .583 helps even more.
Several players have struggled to find a groove in the first seven games, with Casper Wells posting a .125 batting average and Eric Thames still without a hit to this point. They will have to start hitting much better if either outfielder wants to find a slot on the 25-man roster for Opening Day.
The next game for the Seattle Mariners will come against the Texas Rangers on Friday (March 1). Prospect James Paxton will get his first start of the spring and it should be very interesting to see how he does against the Rangers.
More Seattle Mariners News:
Justin Smoak Hits Another Spring Training Home Run
Jeremy Bonderman Struggles in Spring Debut
Blake Beavan Pitches Spring Training Gem
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