Mariners Score Win Over Dodgers Behind Speed And Pitching

March 4, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez (34) pitches in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Yasiel Puig torched the first pitch of the spring from Felix Hernandez for a double, but The King settled in as the Mariners defeated the Dodgers 4-1 Tuesday.

Seven of Felix’s first 10 pitches were balls, but he induced a double play in the first and settled down in the second to finish with a walk, one strikeout and allowing only two hits.

Three of the M’s four runs were scored in the 3rd off J.P. Howell. James Jones singled and Mike Zunino doubled to lead off the inning. But Jones made a base running error on Ketel Marte‘s grounder to short and he was thrown at trying to retreat to 3rd.

But Brad Miller singled in Zunino and Kyle Seager singled in Marte and Zunino to put the Mariners up 3-0.

Speed on the base paths – or at least the illusion of speed – led to at least one of the Mariners runs. The Mariners only had one stolen base (Ketel Marte) but James Jones – eager to make up for his mistake earlier – turned a few heads and agitated Dodgers fans when he got a two-out hit in the 4th.

He then danced back and forth on first base, drawing the attention of the pitcher, Jamey Wright and catcher A.J. Ellis. On the fifth pickoff attempt during Mike Zunino’s at-bat, Wright threw the ball away allowing Jones to go 1st-to-3rd.

A few pitched later, Wright threw a wild pitch allowing Jones to score giving Seattle a 4-0 lead.

The lone Dodger run came in the 8th courtesy of a solo shot by Trayvon Robinson off Stephen Kohlscheen. With the exception of Kohlscheen, the Mariners pitchers combined for eight scoreless innings of four hit ball, walking four and striking out three.

The Mariners (6-1) as a team are second in the majors with a .295 average. They rank 5th in OBP at .357 and second in SLG at .478.

The pitching staff is first in ERA at 1.80, first in WHIP at 1.05 and opponents are batting .215 against them, 4th-best in the majors so far.

Seattle Batting

1-Ran for Miller, B in the 7th. 2-Ran for Buck in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Zunino 2 (3, Howell, Wright, J).
TB: Jones, J 2; Zunino 4; Miller, B; Marte, K; Buck; Seager.
RBI: Miller, B (3), Seager (1).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Smoak; Marte, K; Seager; Taylor, C.
Team RISP: 2-for-8.
Team LOB: 6.

BASERUNNING
SB: Marte, K (2, 2nd base off Withrow/Federowicz).

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Miller, B-Marte, K-Smoak, Marte, K-Miller, B-Smoak).

LA Dodgers Batting

BATTING
2B: Puig (2, Hernandez, F).
HR: Robinson, T (1, 8th inning off Kohlscheen, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Puig 2; Rojas, M; Uribe; Robinson, T 4; Ramirez, H.
RBI: Robinson, T (1).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ethier; Turner, J; Uribe; Federowicz.
GIDP: Ramirez, H, Ellis, A.
Team RISP: 0-for-7.
Team LOB: 6.

FIELDING
E: Puig (1, throw), Wright, J (1, pickoff).

Seattle Pitching

LA Dodgers Pitching

  WP: Hernandez, F, Arias, Jo, Wright, J.
Groundouts-flyouts: Hernandez, F 3-1, Noesi 4-1, Gillheeney 1-0, Arias, Jo 1-1, Carraway 2-0, Kohlscheen 1-1, Leone 2-0, Wilson, Br 1-0, Jansen 1-0, Howell 1-1, Wright, J 1-0, Perez, C 1-0, Withrow 4-1, Patterson 2-2.
Batters faced: Hernandez, F 8, Noesi 7, Gillheeney 3, Arias, Jo 5, Carraway 4, Kohlscheen 4, Leone 3, Wilson, Br 3, Jansen 3, Howell 7, Wright, J 5, Perez, C 3, Withrow 8, Patterson 8.
Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Allen Bailey. 2B: Lance Barrett. 3B: Tom Woodring.
Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 4 mph, In from CF.
T: 2:38.
Att: 5,027.
Venue: Camelback Ranch.
March 4, 2014

Seattle Batting

LA Dodgers Batting

Seattle Pitching

LA Dodgers Pitching