It was the Mariners day and Homer Bailey knew it.
Jesus Montero hit a grand slam, Michael Saunders homered among his three hits and the Seattle Mariners hammered Homer Bailey in a 16-0 rout of the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.
Saunders connected off Bailey, and Justin Smoak added two hits off the right-hander, driving in three runs. Montero's slam came off Wilken De La Rosa, one of two non-roster pitchers left in Reds camp.
Bailey was scheduled to pitch five innings but lasted only 3 1-3, allowing nine runs on nine hits and two walks. He struck out five.
"It was their day, not mine," Bailey said but it wasn't as bad as it looked at least from Bailey's point of view.
"I don't think it was as bad as the line looks," Bailey said. "The hit that one home run but other than that there were a lot of ground balls that went through, dropped balls. I made some good pitches and struck a few guys out but it seemed like every time they put it in play there was a runner on. I think the catcher hit a couple of them up the middle some broken bat hits. It's kind of frustrating sometimes."
Saunders also doubled, singled and scored three times from the leadoff spot. Saunders was named to All-WBC team as a member of Team Canada. Montero was 3-for-3 and is now hitting .405 with 10 RBI, including six for the game.
Brandon Maurer continued to impress the Mariners. He gave up six hits and a walk in five innings, striking out seven. The 22-year-old is making a strong case to earn a spot in Seattle's starting rotation.
The Mariner's 23rd pick in the 2008 draft is testing manger Eric Wedge's discipline.
"We are trying to go all the way through. Part of my discipline is keep my mind open to the very end," Wedge said. "The very end is approaching quickly here. We see how the next couple days play out but it's safe to say we are close to making a decision."
Maurer pleaded his case on the mound.
"I can't think about competing for the spot," Maurer said. "I just have to concentrate on going out there and getting ready for the next start. Those guys can hit it was good to go out there and get a couple of them out."
Maurer had confidence in his change-up and curve, two pitches that needed work coming into camp.
"It was nice to go out and have a little confidence in them," Maurer said.
Wedge's opinion was reinforced by the outing that give Maurer a 0.90 ERA for the spring. Maurer has allowed 2 earned runs in 20 innings and pitched out of a bases loaded jam in spite of sitting through long Mariner at-bats.
"Maurer threw the ball very well against a good group of hitters," Wedge said. "Pitching out of that situation isn't something we haven't seen it reaffirms what we've seen. For him to pitch the way he pitched and have the time he sat on the bench today and still be effective was very impressive."
The Reds let two fly balls drop while Bailey was on the mound and commited an error.
Jack Hannahan and Zack Cozart doubled and Brandon Phillips tripled among the Reds' seven scattered hits.
"We looked kind of pitiful. We didn't catch. We didn't hit. Nothing, Dusty Baker said. "Homer didn't throw the ball that bad. They got some two out hits. We didn't help him on defense. It shows the importance of defense because it opens innings."
NOTES: Reds RHP Bronson Arroyo threw some pitches to test his right hand. Arroyo was hit on the right hand that David Murphy hit on Sunday. X-rays were negative. He is expected to make his next start on Friday....IF Jason Donald will get some at-bats in the minor league camp. He is out with a sore knee. Donald is one of three players competing for the Reds' utility role...The Mariners place RHP Josh Kinney on the 60-day disabled list. Then selected Kameron Loe to the 40-man roster....Michael Saunders' third home run of the spring. Jesus Montero grand slam was his second of the spring. The home runs give the Mariners 52 home runs one more than their previous team high set in 1999....
No comments:
Post a Comment