Mariners' Taijuan Walker: Walks five but still wins vs. A's

Walker walked a season-high five but allowed only one run on two hits with three strikeouts in six innings Friday to beat the A's, 5-1.

Walker fought control issues most of the night, throwing 113 pitches (69 strikes), but at least did a good job to strand runners. When he actually threw strikes, he was hard to touch, making just one mistake that resulted in a solo home run in his final inning. More was expected from Walker this season than eight wins and a 4.22 ERA. At one point, he was demoted to Triple-A with the team questioning his competitiveness. That, and a midseason foot injury, limited him to 134.1 innings, yet he still gave up 27 homers. In 25 outings, he recorded just nine quality starts. A late-season change with his mechanics seemed to help, though the results were hit-or-miss in his last five starts, as Friday's season finale can attest.