Trevor Bauer was dominant until surrendering three home runs in the fifth inning that propelled the Seattle Mariners to a 7-3 comeback win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Peoria Sports Complex.
Prior to that Bauer retired the first 11 batters faced before allowing a two-out single to Kyle Lewis in the fourth inning. Nothing came of it as he caught Kyle Seager looking for a fifth strikeout of the night.
Bauer had been staked a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth thanks to Max Muncy’s single being followed by Chris Taylor’s home run to left-center field. The homer was Taylor’s fourth of the spring and at the time raised his batting average to .400 in Cactus League play.
Bauer immediately ran into trouble in the fifth inning, allowing consecutive doubles that cut the Dodgers’ lead in half. Evan White and Jose Marmolejos then hit back-to-back home runs that gave the Mariners their first lead. Mitch Haniger’s homer two batters wound up being the knockout blow.
After coming out of the game, Bauer explained the fifth inning was a byproduct of merely throwing pitches to continue stretching out rather than focusing on sequencing. “I got exactly what I wanted out of tonight,” he said.
Nevertheless, each of the five home runs Bauer has given up this spring have all come in his past two appearances.
Matt Beaty’s sacrifice fly scored a run in the top of the sixth but the Dodgers never drew any closer. Seager’s two-run double off Josiah Gray in the seventh inning provided the Mariners with more of a cushion to finish the game out.
Turner validates confidence
Hours after explaining he was pleased with his Spring Training progression, Justin Turner produced a 2-for-2 effort with a double and walk.
“I feel good offensively. I feel like I’m in a good spot,” Turner said Monday afternoon. “Obviously, if I don’t come out hitting a bunch of homers there will probably be everyone trying to equate it to, ‘Oh I lost weight, so I lost my power.’
“But I don’t think that’s the case. I feel like I’m trending in the right direction right now. Things are starting to come together and I feel like offensively, I’m right where I need to be 10 days from Opening Day.”
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