NSFW SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais

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didn’t need long to come up with one immediate advantage to playing exhibition games after having already opened the regular season.“Yeah Nathan Eovaldi Jersey , the fact we’re 2-0 is not a bad thing,” Servais joked.Servais could joke because the atmosphere around the Seattle clubhouse was relaxed, if not a little jet-lagged still, before beginning an awkward two-day stretch on Monday night with the first of two exhibition games against the San Diego Padres.After the fanfare and excitement of traveling across the Pacific to Japan, opening the season with a pair of victories over Oakland, and bidding farewell to the professional career of Ichiro Suzuki, the Mariners returned home for a pair of games with little-to-no meaning that don’t count in the standings.Seattle still appeared to be feeling the effects of the trip. The Padres scored six runs in the first inning on their way to an 8-0 victory. Manny Machado doubled, Franmil Reyes hit a three-run homer and Austin Hedges hit a two-run homer, all off Mike Leake as part of the big first inning.Manuel Margot hit a pair of solo home runs, one off Leake and another off reliever Hunter Strickland.It’s an odd circumstance for everyone involved to have two games that count, followed by two games with no bearing other than getting pitchers a few more innings and giving the chance for a few prospects to play in T-Mobile Park. Servais planned for his regular starters to get a handful of at-bats over the two days and rely heavily on the group of minor leaguers brought to Seattle.“It’s really hard and we knew it was going to be hard. No surprise here http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey ,” he said. “We want to be smart. We want to get our main guys, our regular guys out there for limited action tonight. Some of them may not even play tomorrow. I think we’re in a pretty good game mode but it’s hard. You turn it on, you turn it off and we’ve got to turn it back on again. The fact we’re playing the Red Sox, it shouldn’t be too hard to turn it on. We should be pretty good for Thursday.”The one exception is Mallex Smith, the speedy outfielder Seattle re-acquired in the offseason in one of the many trades made by general manager Jerry Dipoto. Smith was shut down early in spring training with a strained right elbow that limited his throwing. He did not make the trip to Japan and remained behind in Arizona at Seattle’s complex in the hope of begin ready for opening day.That work appears to have paid off. Smith hit leadoff and started in center field. He went 0-for-3 at the plate but felt his timing is improving despite the limited at-bats during spring training. Most of his work came on back fields in the past couple of weeks.“It hasn’t been fun, that’s for sure. Just anticipating this moment right here,” Smith said.It’s no guarantee that he will be in the lineup against Boston on Thursday, but it was a positive sign after being disconnected from the major league roster for most of the past two weeks. Hitting leadoff against the Padres was more a result of Servais wanting to get Smith an extra at-bat while only playing him five innings. That may or may not be the case when Thursday arrives.“It’s hard when you join a new team and you can’t do anything. You don’t really feel like you’re part of the team until you get out there and play and start impacting the game,” Servais said.FINAL PITCHYoung San Diego righty Chris Paddack was impressive in his final start of the spring and as a result made the Padres roster. Manager Andy Green and his teammates told Paddack as he finished off 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four. Paddack finished spring with 24 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings.“It was awesome. Just the whole moment, coming in today knowing this was my first opportunity to pitch in a big league stadium. Going into it I had no idea that was going to happen Matt Andriese Jersey ,” Paddack said.STARTING OFFLefty Eric Lauer will get the opening day start for San Diego against San Francisco on Thursday. Lauer didn’t allow a run in 10 innings during spring training. The 23-year-old will be the second-youngest pitcher to start opening day for San Diego.UP NEXTPadres: Lefty Matt Strahm will pitch the exhibition finale against Seattle on Tuesday. Strahm threw five shutout innings in his last spring start.Mariners: Left-hander Wade LeBlanc will start the exhibition finale against the Padres on Tuesday. Due to scheduling and weather, LeBlanc made only two official Cactus League appearances. NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani is a finalist for the AL Rookie of the Year award along with two New York Yankees infielders.The Baseball Writers’ Association of America revealed the finalists for its major awards Monday night. The winners will be announced next week.Ohtani figures to be in a tight race with Yankees infielders Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres after a historic first season with the Los Angeles Angels. The two-way Japanese sensation was 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA as a starting pitcher before an elbow injury forced him off the mound. He finished out the season exclusively as a designated hitter, hitting .285 with 22 home runs and 61 RBIs.Ohtani is the first player ever to hit 15 home runs and strike out 50 batters in a season, and he joined Babe Ruth as the only players ever to hit 15 homers and pitch 50 innings. He had Tommy John surgery after the season and is not expected to pitch in 2019.Andujar hit 47 doubles, tied for the second-most by a rookie in major league history, while Torres had 24 homers and 77 RBIs as a 21-year-old. They are the first teammates to finish top three in Rookie of the Year voting since Wil Myers and Chris Archer with Tampa Bay in 2013.The World Series champion Boston Red Sox might be in line for more hardware. Mookie Betts is a finalist for AL MVP, and Alex Cora is in the final three for AL Manager of the Year in his first season. Betts led the majors with a .346 average and .640 slugging percentage while setting career highs with 32 homers and a 1.078 OPS.Los Angeles’ Mike Trout and Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez are also finalists for AL MVP. Trout has finished in the top two in AL MVP voting in five of the past six seasons after finishing fourth in 2017. Ramirez was third in the voting last year, when Houston’s Jose Altuve beat out Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich is the favorite for NL MVP, and Colorado’s Nolan Arenado and Chicago’s Javier Baez also were revealed as top vote-getters. Yelich emerged from a crowded field by hitting .370 with 10 homers and a 1.313 OPS in September while the Brewers topped the Cubs for the NL Central title.The Mets’ Jacob deGrom, Washington’s Max Scherzer and Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola are the top three for the NL Cy Young Award, with deGrom favored to win for the first time despite a 10-9 record. Felix Hernandez had 13 victories when he won the 2010 AL Cy Young C. J. Cron Jersey , the fewest wins ever by a starting pitcher to win the award. Scherzer is a three-time winner, including the past two NL awards.Corey Kluber has a shot at a second straight AL Cy Young Award and third overall. The Cleveland right-hander is up against Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell and Houston’s Justin Verlander, who won the AL Cy Young and MVP Awards in 2011.Cora is up against Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash and Oakland’s Bob Melvin. Cash oversaw the Rays‘ successful experiment with using relief pitchers as “openers” to begin games, a trend that others — including Melvin — adopted later in the season. Melvin led Oakland as it charged back into the AL playoff picture and earned a spot in the wild-card game.Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell, Colorado’s Bud Black and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker were named NL Manager of the Year candidates, while Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr., Washington’s Juan Soto and Los Angeles’ Walker Buehler are the top three for NL Rookie of the Year.