Moving on up: Halman's home run lifts Mariner future starts past Padres as young players look for promotions

Greg Halman has played enough in Everett, Wash. and wants to move on to Wisconsin or California.

After his clutch home run Saturday in an exhibition between Seattle and San Diego minor leaguers, he may get his wish.

The Seattle designated hitter, trying to earn a spot on a long-season Single-A team, hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning of the Mariners' 5-2 win at Desert Sun Stadium.

"We came out here to win although it was for the fans," Halman said. "But we were out here to win. We played hard and I think we did our job."

With the game tied at two in the top of the seventh, Anthony Phillips drew a leadoff walk for Seattle, then Padre pitcher Chris Perez hit Dan Carroll. After Gavin Dickey struck out, Halman sent the first pitch he saw over the left-center fence.

"I was just looking for a first-pitch fastball right in my zone," said Halman, who hit .307 with 16 home runs for the AquaSox, a short-season A team in the Northwest League. "It was right in my zone, and I put a good swing on it."

Halman said his goal - as well as the goal of most of the players in the game - was to perform well enough to get noticed by scouts and get placed on the Mariners' Single-A affiliate (the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Midwest League) or even their advanced-A team (the High Desert Mavericks of the California League).

"I was hoping for the guys to get it going, to get us started," said Halman, who went 1-for-5. "I think we all did. We all contributed, we all did the little things right, and I was put a good swing on the ball. And it went out."

Perez took the loss for the Padres, pitching just the seventh inning in which he gave up two hits, walked a batter, hit two others and gave up the three runs.

The Padres fell down 2-0 in the first, but battled back to tie the game in the sixth despite finishing the game 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

"We didn't hit the ball when we needed to," said Padres coach Greg Riddoch, who coached the major league team from 1990-1992. "They got singles up the hole, blooper to left, things go like that. Somedays we'll get those little singles and bloopers, but today we didn't hit the ball."

Bradley Chalk had three of the Padres' eight hits, with Sam Carter and Matt Stocco each hitting a triple and eventually scoring. Carter scored on a fielders choice in the fourth, while Stocco scored on a passed ball in the sixth.

"You go through periods like that ... where you almost want to go stand down there and hide the guys so they can't see there's anyone in scoring position," Riddoch said. "This game about making contact with runners in scoring position, and there's a lot of people who get paid good money to do that at the major-league level, and we're just minor leaguers. They haven't become accomplished yet or they wouldn't be here."

Eddie Hernandez had three hits, a run and an RBI for the Mariners. Jair Hernandez, Geraldo Avila and Alex Liddi also had multi hit efforts for the Mariners as eight of the nine Seattle starters had a hit. Shawn Kelly pitched two perfect innings of relief for the win.

The Padres short-season A team is the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League, while their regular A team is the Fort Wayne Wizards of the Midwest League. Their advanced A team is the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League.

Riddoch said some Padres were a little nervous on the field.

"They're still trying to make clubs," Riddoch said. "All of our club played today; we just grabbed a lot of the young ones and came down here so they could have their game here. These guys are still battling try to make the full-season A team. There's still a lot of pressure on them with a week left. And you can see it in some of them."

Dickey singled in the first inning for the Mariners, eventually scoring on a single by Hernandez. After Carlos Truinfel singled, Avila came up with the Mariners' third straight two-out single, scoring Hernandez. The Mariners went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position and 7-for-16 with two outs.