Shannon Drayer

What shouldn’t be lost in the dramatics of the Mariners’ walk-off win Wednesday over Texas was the performance of Taijuan Walker, which was one of his better ones and one where he showed different side of himself.

The Mariners held a players-only meeting Tuesday night after falling to Texas for their fifth straight loss. “Meetings are never a good sign,” manager Scott Servais said.

We have seen Luis Sardinas in left field and first base in the first week of the Mariners’ season. Tonight he gets to play his natural position, shortstop, as Ketel Marte gets a night off after going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts Monday.

Four runs, 0 for 16 with runners in scoring position and three losses is not exactly what the Mariners were looking for in their first homestand. Not a fun way to start the season, but Scott Servais is not about to jump into the Mariners’ home-vs.-road debate.

“It goes by pretty fast, I’m not going to lie,” Mariners skipper Scott Servais said of games as he manages in the MLB for the first time.

The Mariners are going to shift this year, and shift a lot. Sometimes shifts are not your friend, though, as Nathan Karns learned during his outing on Wednesday.

Among the guests on the last edition of “The Cactus League Report” was Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker, who assessed his spring performance to date.

While most of the Mariners in big-league camp enjoyed their first day off of spring training on Tuesday, James Paxton made a start in a minor-league game.

Last week Jerry Dipoto hinted he could be making another addition to the Mariners. Reports out of Korea say it is power-hitting Korean veteran Dae-ho Lee.

The Mariners have added a right-handed option for their first-base platoon, signing 33-year-old Korean slugger Dae-ho Lee to a minor-league deal.