Mariners roll to an easy 9-0 win over the Rangers

Mariners 9 , Rangers 0 at Peoria Stadium

Notable

The Mariners got a strong start from lefty Drew Smyly and banged around Rangers pitching, specifically starter A.J. Griffin, who gave up six runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings of work. Mike Zunino and Taylor Motter each hit homers in the win as Seattle improves to 7-4 in Cactus League play.

Smyly pitched three shutout innings, giving up just one hit. He walked one batter and struck out three. Pitchers Max Povse, Cody Martin, Jean Machi and Nick Hagadone combined to work the final six innings scoreless.

Smyly’s next start in a game could come with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. He will fly to Miami on Thursday to join the U.S. team for pool play at Marlins Stadium. Smyly is in the designated pitcher’s pool for Team USA. He would start a tiebreaker game if needed or make the first start of the second round of pool play. He will only start the one game and then return to Peoria to resume his preparation for the season.

“In 2011, I played in the Pan-American games,” he said. “It was a great experience. I told myself that if they asked me again, I would definitely say, yes.”

Player of the game

Mike Zunino had another big day at plate, going 2-for-3 with a homer, a double, three RBI and a walk. Zunino crushed a 3-2 fastball from Griffin over the berm in left-center to lead off the second inning for his second homer of the spring.

“It was just nice to get a pitch and barrel it up,” he said. “I think it helped the wind was blowing that way too. I’m just trying to hunt pitches in a zone that I know I can handle, especially early in the count.”

An inning later with Danny Valencia on second and Daniel Vogelbach on first, Zunino laced a line drive into the gap into left-center that rolled to the wall, scoring both runners.

“He’s been patient and getting good pitches to hit,” manager Scott Servais said. “That’s the big thing — working good counts. He had some really good at-bats today.”

Quotable

“Drew was really, really sharp today. It was great to see. He got all of his pitches working, threw some good changeups. He had a really good curveball today. He had a lot of strikeouts with that pitch. He’s been sharp both times out there. He feels good about what he’s doing. I like what we are seeing.” — Servais

Highlights

On Tap

The Mariners are off on Tuesday. Servais won’t have any baseball activities for most players, wanting them to get a day off in this longer spring training. They return to action on Wednesday night, facing the Cleveland Indians at Peoria Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. PST. Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma will make the start for Seattle.

Boxscore