The Mariners tallied six runs in the final two innings but it wasnt enough to overcome a nine-run deficit, and Seattle lost to the Chicago White Sox 13-8 in Cactus League play in front of 9,244 fans at Peoria Stadium Wednesday afternoon. This marked the Mariners’ final Cactus clash before flying to Japan, where they will launch their American League season next week with a pair against the Oakland A’s.
Felix Hernandez, slated to pitch Seattle’s AL opener March 28 in Tokyo, made his fourth start of the spring and got blitzed. After facing the minimum through the first two innings, Hernandez gave up a run in the third, three in the fourth and four more in the fifth. His final pitching line: 5.0 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 Ks, while making 92 pitches, 56 for strikes.
The Mariners took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out home run to right field by Ichiro, and back-to-back hits by Justin Smoak (double) and Jesus Montero (RBI single).
The White Sox answered with 11 runs between the third and seventh innings before the Mariners scored again. In the eighth, Munenori Kawasaki walked, moved to third on an Ichiro single (Mike Wilson pinch-ran for Ichiro), then scored on a single by Alex Liddi. Mike Wilson scored as Jesus Montero grounded into a double-play.
Ichiro and Montero both registered multi-hit games. As he heads back to his native Japan, Ichiro is batting .400 (12×30) while Montero is hitting .306 (11×36) with three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBIs.
The Mariners leave for Japan Thursday where they will play four games in the Tokyo Dome. Seattle will play a pair of exhibition games against the Hanshin Tigers & Yomiuri Giants, with the records not counting towards Cactus League standings or the regular season.
Seattle will then play two games against the Oakland As before returning to Arizona to complete spring training.
TRANSACTION: The Mariners released RHP Shawn Camp Wednesday. The roster move leaves the Mariners with 38 players in their major league camp: 30 roster players and eight non-roster invitees.