SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Long reliever Cha Seung Baek did a nice job in a start for the Seattle Mariners.
Baek allowed only one hit while pitching the first four innings Monday for the Mariners in a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday.
After Baek got his work in, with one strikeout and one walk, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey threw three scoreless innings for Seattle. Dickey gave up three hits and got the victory.
While the Mariners let their reliever candidates get some extended work, Jason Jennings made another solid start for the Rangers despite being charged with the loss.
Jennings, who signed with the hometown Rangers after an injury-plagued season and elbow surgery in Houston last year, allowed a run and two hits in four innings, with two strikeouts and no walks.
Though the Rangers have been concerned a bit about Jennings' velocity while building his arm strength, he has a 1.54 ERA (two earned runs over 11 2/3 innings) in four spring starts. He has seven strikeouts and four walks.
Robinson Tejada, being converted from starter to reliever, pitched a scoreless inning for the Rangers. He hasn't allowed a run in his last four appearances.
Jeremy Reed had a sacrifice fly in the third when Seattle took a 1-0 lead. Miguel Cairo had a leadoff double in the third, then moved up on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on Reed's flyball. Reed also added and RBI grounder in the eighth when the Mariners scored twice to go up 3-0.
Josh Hamilton went 1-for-2 for the Rangers, and his spring average actually slipped from .600 to .594 (19-of-32). He has hit safely in 11 of 13 games and on Sunday had a two walks and a double before a called third strike ended his streak of reaching base in 13 consecutive plate appearances (10 hits, three walks).
Notes
Adrian Beltre had two doubles for Seattle. ... The Rangers scored twice in the ninth inning and the game ended with the bases loaded. Their two runs were the lowest in a game this spring.
