PEORIA, Ariz. — Mike Zunino hit two home runs and Kyle Seager added a third for the Seattle Mariners, but the San Francisco Giants rallied from a four-run deficit in the top of the ninth inning with minor leaguers Saturday in a 9-8 split-squad victory.
Zunino connected in the second inning off Giants starter Jake Peavy and again in the sixth off big league reliever Jeremy Affeldt. The catcher leads Seattle with six home runs and 10 RBIs this spring.
The Mariners fielded a starting lineup with eight players expected to start on opening day. The Giants had some of their regulars playing in a futures game at the same time.
Hisashi Iwakuma struck out four and walked two in five innings. Three of the runs came on a towering home run to left field by Justin Maxwell in the fourth.
“On some pitches, I couldn’t find my balance, lower body, upper body,” Iwakuma said through a translator. “I had good pitches here and there.”
Iwakuma, the projected No. 2 starter in the Seattle rotation, gave up the first runs he has allowed in a spring training game this year.
“He made two mistakes on sliders, but other than that I thought it was a good outing. He commanded the fastball well and he’s feeling pretty good and ready to go,” Zunino said.
Peavy threw 83 pitches in 3 1-3 innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits. The Giants got one scoreless inning each from relievers Juan Gutierrez, Sergio Romo, closer Santiago Casilla and Hunter Strickland.
San Francisco scored five runs off Mariners reliever Erasmo Ramirez in the ninth, the fifth on a wild pitch from Mark Lowe, who came on for Ramirez with one out.
The Giants have been plagued by some defensive lapses in spring training and have just eight wins. Shortstop Ehire Adrianza and first baseman Travis Ishikawa made bad throws to first base to allow runners to move up a base, and both Robinson Cano and Logan Morrison eventually came home.
Cano doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nelson Cruz in the first, giving the Mariners a 2-1 lead after the Giants opened the scoring with Gregor Blanco’s triple and an RBI fielder’s choice for Ishikawa.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
