SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Taijuan Walker pitched three shutout innings, leading the Seattle Mariners past an Arizona Diamondbacks split-squad 11-4 on Saturday.
Kyle Seager drove in two runs and had two sacrifice flies, and Rickie Weeks hit two doubles.
Walker struck out two and walked one without allowing a hit in his outing.
“He probably pumped a few too many first-pitch fastballs, but he had great command,” manager Lloyd McClendon said. “He’s come a long way from September. He’s grown quite a bit.”
Walker had a scary moment, though, with the final batter he faced. Cliff Pennington lined a belt-high liner back at Walker, who was able to knock the ball down and make the play without getting hurt.
“Everything is good,” he said. “It hit the glove and then my stomach.”
Diamondbacks starter Rubby De La Rosa walked in a run in the second to start the scoring. In the third, the Mariners added two runs — the first on a sacrifice fly by Seager, the second on Dustin Ackley’s single. Seager drove in another run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly.
“Seager swung the bat extremely well,” McClendon said.
Arizona scored twice each in the fifth and eighth innings, but the Mariners had a six-run ninth to put the game away.
For the Diamondbacks, De La Rosa had a disappointing outing — he walked four batters in three innings while allowing three runs — after raising hopes with two outstanding stints in which he allowed no runs in five innings.
“Something was different,” manager Chip Hale said. “He didn’t throw as many strikes.
“That’s what happens (when) you start stretching these guys out. They get one or two innings and can just let it fly. They have to figure out how to pitch to get through more innings.
“We’re just seeing some chinks in the armor. We have to fix it. It’s our job.”
Other than his walk, Walker — a candidate for the final spot in the rotation — allowed only one other baserunner which came on a two-base error by Seager.
“This year, I’m better at keeping my composure if people get on,” Walker said. “I try to work to get groundballs to get easy outs.”
Diamondbacks: De La Rosa, a candidate for the starting rotation, struggled and said he was rushing his delivery. He didn’t consider the results a big deal.
“The first inning was lights out, the second inning got away a little bit, but I just told him I thought he kept his emotions really level,” catcher Tuffy Gosewisch said. “He didn’t let things get out of control. Sometimes you’re going to have outings like that, but you can still go five or six innings and give up three (runs). That’s the key.”
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