Editorials

Spring Training Recap: Prospects Lead Way In Victory Over Mariners

O'Koyea Dickson

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The Los Angeles Dodgers faced the Seattle Mariners on Friday at Camelback Ranch, Ariz., in what was a split-squad affair for both teams. David Huff started for the Dodgers and threw a perfect first inning, which quickly has become the norm for any Dodger pitcher.

Jimmy Rollins led off the bottom of the first with a single to right field and took third on an Adrian Gonzalez one-out base hit. However, Erasmo Ramirez escaped the jam by getting Yasmani Grandal to hit into an inning-ending double play.

After another perfect inning from Huff, the Dodgers threatened again in the bottom of the second. Howie Kendrick kick-started the offense with a double down the third base line and it was followed by an Andre Ethier swinging bunt.

With runners on the corners and no outs, Juan Uribe hit a tapper in front of the plate that Ramirez quickly got to, but airmailed an underhand toss to the catcher, allowing Kendrick to score and the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead.

Ethier eventually advanced to third on a throwing error by Ramirez and scored on Austin Barnes’ sacrifice fly to center field. The Mariners responded in the top of the third inning after Dustin McGowan replaced Huff.

Willie Bloomquist singled on the first pitch of the inning and Chris Taylor followed with an RBI triple to cut the Mariners’ deficit in half at 2-1. Jesus Sucre then tied the game with a sacrifice fly to score Taylor.

The fourth inning was a quiet one with the only baserunner for either team coming on a walk relief pitcher David Aardsma issued in the top half of the inning. The Dodgers struggled against reliever Tyler Olson, who only needed five pitches to retire Kendrick, Ethier, and Uribe, none of whom got the ball out of the infield.

With the fifth inning came several and expected changes for the Dodgers. Nine different players entered the game, including J.P. Howell. After giving up a single, Howell allowed a two-run home run to Taylor and the Mariners took a 4-2 lead.

CONTINUE READING: Dodgers Come Back To Win

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Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

2 Comments

  1. Dickson showing power this Spring. He is really squaring the ball up. Barnes made the right baseball move in hitting a fly ball to score the runner at third. It is that type of manufacturing runs the Dodgers did not do well in the Playoffs or large parts of the season. Hopefully the mind set is changed now. I know Kendrick and Rollins play the game the right way. Hopefully they will help. Giving yourself up to score or move the runner over is so important.

  2. Crawford looks good and made a nice throw to second to nail the runner trying to stretch a hit to a double. Let’s hope he stays healthy as he is really good when he is healthy.

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