Mariners' Lee Dae-ho blasts 1st homer

Seattle Mariners’ Lee Dae-ho takes batting practice during his team’s spring training in Ariz., Feb. 23. Lee hit his first home run during a preseason game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Peoria, Ariz., Tuesday (KST). / Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

Seattle Mariners Lee Dae-ho hit his first home run of spring training Tuesday (KST).

At Peoria Stadium in Ariz., the Korean slugger smashed a powerful solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning off the Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Matt Reynolds. With a count of one ball and two strikes, he drove an 85 mile-per-hour fastball high over the left field fence. He hit the home run in his third appearance and in his fourth trip to the plate of spring training.

Lee also had his first opportunity to play as a first baseman. The 33-year-old replaced Adam Lind in the beginning of the sixth inning and took Lind’s fifth spot in the order.

Lee, however, hit into a double play in the ninth with first and second bases loaded. The Mariners lost to the Diamondbacks 8-10.

Texas Rangers’ Choo Shin-soo celebrates his run scored against the San Francisco Giants in Surprise, Ariz. Monday. / AP-Yonhap

Lee said he was happy with the home run but added he was reluctant to miss out on another opportunity in the ninth.

“The fastball was kind of slow, but I hit it hard,” Lee said. “I still feel bad that I hit into that last double play.”

For Lee, who’s required to show his value to his team as he joined the Mariners spring training camp with a minor league contract, the homer against a lefty gave him the green light to move on from his unstable status.

“That was an interesting at-bat,” Mariners’ manager Scott Servais commented about his homer. “He fouls a ball off his knee and then hits the next pitch about 480 feet. There’s big power there. We know that. It’s nice to see him get into one today.”

While the Mariners will likely use Lind as their starting first baseman this season, Lee needs to prove that he is as good as Lind. Though the 32-year-old American has belted 166 home runs in the past 10 seasons, he isn’t good against lefty hurlers _ Lind has recorded a batting average of .293 against right-handed pitchers with 145 home runs but with only a .213 with 21 home runs against lefties.

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers outfielder Choo Shin-soo went 2-for-2 with a run scored in a 6-5 win against the San Francisco Giants.

The Minnesota Twins Park Byung-ho, who hit a grand slam for his first U.S. home run in the previous game, had a day off while the Baltimore Orioles outfielder Kim Hyun-soo went 0-for-2, extending his hitless streak to 18 at-bats in spring training.