Parker is roughed up by Seattle in first start

OAKLAND – It was a tough spring for Jarrod Parker, and based on his first game of the regular season, things haven't gotten much better for the second-year A's starter.

The right-hander, who gave up four or more runs in three of his final four Cactus League starts, was reached for four more runs in his five-inning debut Tuesday as the Seattle Mariners rallied from an early one-run deficit to score a 7-1 win over the A's at O.co Coliseum.

The still-winless A's got a solo homer opening the second inning from Yoenis Cespedes to get the early lead, but Parker walked two, then gave up a three-run homer to Mike Morse in the third.

Morse's ball had a chance to stay in the yard, but despite Josh Reddick crashing into the wall in pursuit, the ball carried out.

Parker was lifted following the fifth inning, moments after Kyle Seager's double and Kendrys Morales' single gave Seattle a three-run advantage.

Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma wasn't as dominant as teammate Felix Hernandez had been the night before, but he was much more than the A's could handle.

Iwakuma allowed just two men to reach base in the first six innings, Cespedes with his first homer opening the second and Eric Sogard with a one-out single to left in the third.

While it's way too early to jump to any conclusions about Oakland, the A's, who had gone 8-1-1 in their final 10 games of the spring, are scoring runs at a pace that bears some similarity to 2012, when the club scored one run or less in three of its first six games.

By game's end, the A's had just six hits and one run in 18 innings through the first two games. They'd walked four times, three of those on opening night.

So while the A's got closer Grant Balfour in the game for the first time, it was just so he could throw a bit.

In no way was the game on the line for the right-hander, who made good on his vow to be ready to start the season after midseason arthroscopic surgery on his knee.

As for Parker, the 13-game winner from 2012 put eight men on base in the first five innings (five hits, three walks), and that follows in the path he blazed this spring when he put together an 0-2 record and 7.45 ERA.

In 19 1/3 Cactus League innings, he allowed 30 baserunners, five of them on walks.

Only four times all last year did Parker allow more than the four runs charged against him Tuesday.

• Read more articles by John Hickey

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