MLB teams
CHC

5

6-3
Final
SEA

3

2-7
RecapBox Score
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
CHC 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 5 - -
SEA 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 - -

W: Prior (6-4)

L: Moyer (7-13)

S: Leicester (0)

Peoria Stadium, Peoria
19y

Chicago 5, Seattle 3

Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) -- Mark Prior is way ahead of last season --
and it's a good thing for the Chicago Cubs.

The 24-year-old right-hander, who spent the first two months of
2004 on the disabled list because of right Achilles' tendinitis,
made his spring debut and pitched three solid innings for the Cubs
in a 5-3 victory over Seattle on Thursday.

The good news for Prior came on day when Kerry Wood returned to
Chicago to have his shoulder checked out by team orthopedist Dr.
Stephen Gryzlo. Wood took himself out of a Wednesday game after
feeling tightness in his shoulder.

"I was gone yesterday, but I talked to him a little bit last
night," Prior said of Wood. "It seems like everything is just
kind of a minor thing. His spirits were up. I don't think he was
really worried about it."

Prior, set to be the No. 2 starter behind Wood, gave up one run
on four hits, with one walk and two strikeouts. Prior didn't pitch
for the Cubs until June 4 last season.

Prior was 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA, with 245 strikeouts in 211 1-3
innings, in 2003. He slipped to 6-4 with a 4.02 ERA in 21 starts
last season, when he missed a start in July with discomfort in the
posterior area of his pitching elbow.

Prior said he didn't mind having his first spring start held
back by the Cubs as a precaution.

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal," he said. "I'll
still have five starts in the spring. So it's no different to me."

Prior said he didn't have any nagging thoughts about getting
injured this season.

"Sometimes things creep up, but you can't worry about it," he
said. "You definitely don't want to see anybody get hurt. You want
to see the best guys out there, you want to play the best and you
want to be at your best."

Jeromy Burnitz, Jason Dubois and Cody Ransom homered for the
Cubs.

The Cubs took a 2-0 lead against Jamie Moyer in the second
inning when Dubois hit his second spring homer and Henry Blanco
singled in a run.

The Mariners scored their run off Prior with three hits in the
third, Adrian Beltre singling in a run.

Ransom hit a two-run homer off Cha Seung Baek in the fifth and
Burnitz hit a solo homer off Baek in the sixth.

Greg Dobbs went 3-for-4 for the Mariners, with a homer off Joe
Borowski in the sixth. Jamal Strong also went 3-for-4.

The Mariners spring record fell to 1-7 under new manager Mike
Hargrove. He's trying to stay positive.

"Again, you want to win down here," Hargrove said. "Don't get
me wrong, I'm not saying that it's not important to win because it
is important to win down here, but it's not the end-all, be-all.

"Today we were in this game the whole way. At least we gave
ourselves a chance to win today. If we continue with that approach,
then things are going to fall in place for us and we'll be all
right."<
^Notes:@Hargrove scratched SS Pokey Reese and used Jose Lopez in his
place. "I had him in the lineup and he was feeling a little under
the weather so I just gave him the day off," Hargrove said. ...
Richie Sexson, Seattle's $50 million free agent addition, went
0-for-3, with two strikeouts, and is 0-for-12 this spring. He has
five walks and six strikeouts.

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