SEATTLE_A year ago in a situation like this, Mike Zunino would have been stalking back to the dugout six pitches earlier, bat in hand, strikeout on the board and a helmet ready to be tossed in disgust.
His approach was broken, his confidence shattered and his swing unfolded like a broken accordion.
But this is a different year and the Seattle Mariners hope a different Zunino. He gave them a reason to continue to believe in their 6-4 win over the Angels on Friday night.
Zunino's three-run homer capped a six-run first inning against Tim Lincecum, former UW standout and Liberty High of Renton graduate, answering the Angels' three-run top of the first. It gave starter Felix Hernandez a lead that the Mariners never relinquished.
While the homer off Lincecum was impressive_Zunino made a lunging, almost one-handed swing on a low-breaking ball, muscling it over the wall in left field_it was the lead-up to the homer that was equally remarkable.
Zunino was immediately behind 0-2 in the count, but he didn't give in and retire himself as so often in past seasons. He fouled off two pitches and then refused to chase three straight changeups out of the strike zone_something he wasn't capable of a year ago. On the fourth straight changeup from Lincecum that was somewhat over the plate, but low, Zunino was ready and showed his freakish strength to hit the ball that far.
The homer highlighted an inning that manager Scott Servais had been waiting for. Before the game, he had lamented the struggles of his team's offense in the previous series against the Red Sox.
Facing the beleaguered Lincecum certainly helped the Mariners. The two-time Cy Young award winner has struggled since joining the Angels in June. He came into the game with a 2-5 record and 8.49 ERA in eight starts. He exited his ninth start in the fourth inning with a 9.16 ERA, having given up six runs on nine hits with two walks and a strikeout in 31/3 innings. It may have been enough to push him out of the rotation.
Given a 3-0 lead, Lincecum gave it right back and then some. He gave up four straight singles to start the inning, including a RBI line drive to right to Robinson Cano. Adam Lind had a bases-loaded single to right field and Leonys Martin hit a deep sacrifice fly to right to score Cano to tie the score at 3-3, setting up Zunino's big at bat.
Hernandez has been known to give up some first-inning runs in his career and he's been particularly ineffective early since returning from the disabled list in July.
Yunel Escobar ripped the first pitch of the game into the left-center gap for a double. Hernandez walked Kole Calhoun on four pitches and then made his biggest mistake, a 1-1 changeup over the middle of the plate to Mike Trout, who crushed it off the railing of the upper deck in left field for a three-run homer.
It was the sixth homer Hernandez has given up to Trout, who came into the game batting .375 against the Mariners ace.
Hernandez retired the next three hitters, but the damage was done.
In three of his four starts since coming back from the disabled list, Hernandez has allowed three runs in the first inning.
After his teammates picked him up, Hernandez (6-4) settled in. He pushed went eight innings for the first time since last season. He gave up four runs on just three hits with three walks and six strikeouts.
Rookie Edwin Diaz made it 3 for 3 in save situations, dominating Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Andrelton Simmons in the ninth, striking out the side in 14 pitches and touching 101 mph with his fastball.
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