Polanco continues spring tear with two-homer day

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Jorge Polanco still hasn’t stood up in front of his new teammates to do his round of on-the-spot questioning during the Mariners’ daily team meetings, which has been custom for one player each morning in Spring Training. That moment is coming soon, even if Seattle’s new second baseman is sheepish about it, but he nonetheless says he already feels acclimated to his new surroundings.

• Stanek brings valuable experience to Mariners 'pen

Aside from the social component, Polanco certainly looked the part at the plate on Sunday, when he crushed a pair of homers in each of his first two plate appearances during the Mariners’ 8-3 win over the Giants at the Peoria Sports Complex.

Polanco drilled a one-out solo blast in the first inning when pummeling a 1-0 fastball off the left side of the batter’s eye to straightaway center. Then, for good measure, he took a 3-1 heater to the opposite-field for a grand slam in the second. Both were from the left side for the switch-hitter and off Giants starter Tommy Romero, a non-roster invitee.

“Any time you drive the ball to the middle, I think that’s a pretty good way to say that your swing is coming along,” Polanco said.

Polanco was hit by a pitch in his final plate appearance in the fourth inning, bringing his Cactus League line to 7-for-14, with the two homers, one double, eight RBIs, four walks and four strikeouts.

“I made good decisions today,” Polanco said. “That tells me that the work that I’m doing is working. I’ve just got to keep doing it.”

Spring stats must be taken with tempered context, but it’s nonetheless been an encouraging camp for Polanco and the Mariners, who are banking on the 11th-year veteran finally being the answer to their well-chronicled issues at second base.

“I’m getting to know the guys, and I feel really good,” Polanco said.

Polanco’s performance was in conjunction with a pair of notable knocks from other key contributors, including a triple and RBI double by Cal Raleigh, and an RBI single by Ty France, who punched his to the opposite field with the infield in.

One day after the other half of Seattle’s starters shined against the Brewers -- notably Julio Rodríguez and Mitch Garver -- the rest of the Mariners’ offense put together another strong showing. It’s all played into the grander objective of identifying a game-by-game approach and being diligently committed to it.

“The timing should be there,” manager Scott Servais said. “Let's work through -- again, the pitchers are getting better; the velocity, the breaking balls are getting better -- but we're really focused on the approach. That's what we're trying to get better at here, and it's been really good so far.”

That’s not to say that hasn’t been the case in recent springs, but there’s more pointed messaging this season -- particularly some of the offense’s shortcomings in April and May the past two years, which became even more pronounced when they missed last postseason by one game.

“I don't want to put too much on it, but I think we are focused at a different level now than what I've seen in the past in Spring Training,” Servais said. “And that's a credit to our players. Our players understand the value of what we're talking about.”