PEORIA, Ariz. — There might be some hope after all for the power outage that’s left the Mariners floundering offensively going on several years.

The team with the worst-scoring offense in the major leagues in four decades last season has several big bats slowly working their way up the minor-league ranks. And they’re starting to unload at spring training after Class AA prospect Carlos Peguero hit a ninth-inning homer for the Mariners on Sunday, followed by Class A slugger Johermyn Chavez going deep late on Monday in a 6-6 tie with the San Diego Padres at Peoria Stadium.

At 6-feet-5, 247 pounds, corner outfielder Peguero, 24, from the Dominican Republic, is probably the closest of Seattle’s young longball threats to making the major leagues. But he knows that for him, outfielder Chavez, 22, or others like Class A first baseman Rich Poythress, 23, to wear a Mariners uniform full-time, they will have to round out their games to make them less one-dimensional.

“I have to work hard on defense and try to get better at everything,” said Peguero, a left-handed slugger signed at age 17 by the Mariners in 2005. “At defense, at my running. But defense is important to me. Because if you get better at defense, you can really help the team at all parts of the game.”

Peguero hit 54 home runs in Class AA and A the past two seasons and then, this spring, in his first big-league camp, he belted a now legendary long ball during live batting practice last week that might have been the longest in Mariners spring-training history. His home run on Sunday, with two out in the ninth to tie the game, was a no-doubter ripped over the right-field wall.

Then, on Monday, it was the 6-foot-3, 220-pound, right-handed-hitting Chavez, a native of Venezuela, cranking a go-ahead shot over the wall in left-center to give Seattle a short-lived ninth-inning lead. For a Mariners squad lacking extra-base hits of any kind last season, seeing their young guys tee off like that brings a smile.

“You love to see a young man go up there ready to hit,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said of Chavez, acquired from Toronto 14 months ago in the Brandon Morrow trade. “And obviously, he really got all over that ball. It wasn’t a dead pull. It was in the middle of the field and he drove it. In the late innings as well. You look at Peguero (Sunday) and Chavez (Monday) and you like to see that.”

Chavez has combined for 53 homers at two levels of Class A ball the past two seasons, including a franchise-best 32 last year to narrowly edge the 31 by Poythress, who is in minor-league camp this spring.

Both Chavez and Peguero still have plenty of room for offensive improvement. Peguero struck out 350 times the past two seasons combined, while Chavez whiffed on 268 occasions.

And then there’s their defense, with both players trying to avoid getting saddled with the all-bat, no-glove, designated-hitter label.

Peguero on Sunday charged a base hit to left field and threw out the would-be go-ahead run at the plate in the 10th inning. It was just last year that one of Seattle’s minor-league instructors, Andy Bottin, gave Peguero what he considers to be the most important advice he has ever received about defending.

Bottin told Peguero he had to anticipate the ball being hit toward him even before it is pitched.

“The runner was on second, so I was thinking, ‘OK, I have to be ready because the ball might come to me,’ ” he said. “And so, every time I got ready before the next pitch, I kept telling myself, ‘Get ready, the ball is coming to you. The ball is coming to you.’

“When I saw the hitter hit the ball I just tried to get into the best position to catch the ball and throw hard to home plate.”

That positioning is something Mariners outfield coach Mike Brumley has been working on with his young outfielders, who are so big they can often be somewhat out of control when charging in at full speed.

“Most outfielders have that bull-in-a-china-closet mentality,” Brumley said. “Even though with (Franklin) Gutierrez and Ichiro, it’s a little different, but most of the big, brawny guys are that way. So, they really have worked on attacking early, then breaking down and trying to get in a good spot to throw.”

Brumley said the most important thing is to get Peguero and others into a “process of development” where they find a defensive rhythm.

What most impressed Brumley on Sunday wasn’t Peguero’s tying home run or throw to nab the runner. It was that Peguero had hustled to back up third base earlier with a runner tagging from second on a fly ball to right field.

Peguero wasn’t always a home-run hitter.

He averaged just nine per season his first four years of professional baseball before clubbing 31 in 2009 for Class A High Desert. Just before that season, he’d worked with minor-league hitting instructors Jose Castro and Tommy Cruz on his batting stance, posture and pitch recognition.

Everything clicked and Peguero was able to leverage his muscular frame into the best position to send balls soaring into the stands. He followed up with 23 more long balls at Class AA Jackson last season and made it to the All-Star Futures Game, where he went 2 for 4.

“The most important thing was to be patient at home plate,” Peguero said. “Be patient, look for the ball and hit it somewhere — hard.”

He’s figured out the latter part. Now, the team hopes he, Chavez and others can work out the rest of their games so future Mariners power displays won’t be limited to spring training.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com

Seattle						San Diego
	AB	R	H	BI			AB	R	H	BI
Jo.Wilson 2b	3	1	1	0		Venable cf-rf	3	0	1	1
L.Rodrigz 2b	1	0	0	1		Durango rf	1	1	1	0
B.Ryan ss	3	0	1	0		Bartlett ss	3	1	2	0
Kazmar ss	1	0	0	0		L.Martinez c	2	0	1	2
Smoak 1b	3	0	0	0		Cantu 3b	2	1	0	0
Langrhns 1b	1	0	0	0		Frandsen ss	2	0	0	0
Cust dh	3	1	1	0		Ludwick lf	3	0	1	1
Carp ph-dh	1	0	0	0		Baxter lf	1	0	0	0
Gross rf	2	0	1	2		O.Hudson 2b	2	0	1	1
C.Pegro ph-rf	2	0	0	0		L.Fsyth pr-3b	1	1	0	0
M.Saundrs lf	2	0	0	0		Salazar dh	3	0	0	0
J.Chavz ph-lf	2	1	1	1		J.Drnll ph-dh	1	0	0	0
Tuiasospo 3b	2	0	0	0		Guzman 1b	2	0	1	0
A.Liddi 3b	2	1	1	0		E.Pattersn cf	2	0	1	1
A.Moore c	2	1	1	0		Cnninghm rf	2	0	0	0
C.Gimenez c	1	0	0	0		Rizzo 1b	1	0	0	0
Halman cf	4	1	1	2		J.Valdez pr	0	1	0	0
						Quiroz c	1	0	0	0
						E.Cabrera pr	0	1	0	0
						Hoffpr 3b-2b	2	0	1	0
Totals	35	6	8	6		Totals	34	6	10	6

Seattle	200 020 101	—	6
San Diego	200 011 101	—	6

E — Durango (1). DP — San Diego 1. LOB — Seattle 3, San Diego 6. 2B — B.Ryan (1), Gross (1), L.Martinez (1), O.Hudson (1), Guzman (1). HR — J.Chavez (1), Halman (1). SB — Durango (3), L.Forsythe (1), E.Cabrera (1). CS — Venable (1).

Mariners	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
	Fister		2	3	2	2	1	1

Padres	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
	LeBlanc		2	3	2	2	0	4

HBP — by Seddon (Rizzo). A — 2,119.

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP)—Jason Bartlett(notes) had two hits, Orlando Hudson(notes) doubled in a run and the San Diego Padres tied the Seattle Mariners 6-6 on Monday.

Gabe Gross(notes) hit a two-run double for Seattle in the first inning off starter Wade LeBlanc(notes). Competing for the fifth spot in San Diego’s rotation, LeBlanc struck out four in two innings while allowing two runs and three hits.

Seattle starter Doug Fister(notes) also yielded two runs on three hits in two innings.

Ryan Ludwick(notes) had an RBI single and Hudson drove in a run with a double high off the center-field wall. Will Venable(notes) also added an RBI single for the Padres.

Rookie center fielder Greg Halman(notes) hit a two-run homer for Seattle. Johermyn Chavez hit a ninth-inning home run off Padres reliever Ernesto Frieri(notes).

Location is a big part of Doug Fister’s game and he seemed to struggle with it in the first inning as San Diego scored twice to tie it up 2-2. Fister left some balls in very hittable places and paid a price as Orlando Hudson — not exactly Barry Bonds in recent years — hit one off the batter’s eye in dead center field for a mammoth run-scoring double. Fister also yielded two additional hits, one of them an RBI single by Ryan Ludwick, as well as a walk.

In other words, he looked rusty. Didn’t keep the ball down where he likes to and clearly missed some spots.

12:25 p.m.: Gabe Gross is going to need a strong spring if he’s to make the ballclub as a reserve outfielder and he got off to a good start today. With runners at the corners and two out, he hit a hard line drive to the gap in right center for a two-run double that gave Seattle a 2-0 lead after a half inning.

Jack Cust was running hard on the play and made it in safely from first base. But barely. It was a poor relay throw and the catcher, former Mariner Guillermo Quiroz, dropped the ball. Otherwise, Cust would have been out. An aggressive call by third base coach Jeff Datz, but you have to make those with two out. And sometimes, when you do that, the other team presses and makes mistakes.

11:57 a.m.: The actual Cactus League gets underway today, even though the stats from yesterday’s Charity Game do count. Not sure why they didn’t count in the past. Exhibitions are exhibitions. Not like you have “real” and “fake” ones.

Anyhow, Doug Fister is slotted to go two innings today.

The Padres have a former M’s catcher from 2010 going today. No, not Rob Johnson. It’s Guillermo Quiroz.

They are also playing AL rules today even though the Padres are the home team. Early in spring training, the general managers of two opposing teams will often agree to use the DH in order to get certain players more at-bats.

The lineups:

MARINERS

2B Josh Wilson
SS Brendan Ryan
1B Justin Smoak
DH Jack Cust
RF Gabe Gross
LF Michael Saunders
3B Matt Tuiasosopo
C Adam Moore
CF Greg Halman

RHP Doug Fister

SAN DIEGO

CF Wil Venable
SS Jason Bartlett
3B Jorge Cantu
LF Ryan Ludwick
2B Orlando Hudson
DH Oscar Salazar
1B Jesus Guzman
RF Aaron Cunningham
C Guillermo Quiroz

LHP Wade LeBlanc

Peoria, AZ (Sports Network) – Josh Bard singled in Mike Wilson in the bottom of the 10th, lifting the Seattle Mariners to a 13-12 victory over the San Diego Padres in Cactus League play.

Bard’s game-winning hit came after the Mariners tied the game on Carlos Peguero’s two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Seattle scored the final four runs of the contest.

Bard finished with three of the Mariners’ 18 hits, while Jack Wilson went 2- for-3 with three runs batted in. Erik Bedard, who missed all of last season because of shoulder injuries, started for Seattle and threw a perfect inning.

The Mariners’ Denny Bautista gave up five runs in two-thirds of an inning, which included Nick Hundley’s grand slam. Hundley finished 2-for-3 with five RBI, while Logan Forsythe and James Darnell also homered for San Diego.

Padres starter Tim Stauffer allowed five runs on six hits and a walk in 1 2/3 frames.

GAME NOTES:

The Sports Network

Peoria, AZ (Sports Network) – Josh Bard singled in Mike Wilson in the bottom of the 10th, lifting the Seattle Mariners to a 13-12 victory over the San Diego Padres in Cactus League play.

Bard’s game-winning hit came after the Mariners tied the game on Carlos Peguero’s two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Seattle scored the final four runs of the contest.

Bard finished with three of the Mariners’ 18 hits, while Jack Wilson went 2- for-3 with three runs batted in. Erik Bedard, who missed all of last season because of shoulder injuries, started for Seattle and threw a perfect inning.

The Mariners’ Denny Bautista gave up five runs in two-thirds of an inning, which included Nick Hundley’s grand slam. Hundley finished 2-for-3 with five RBI, while Logan Forsythe and James Darnell also homered for San Diego.

Padres starter Tim Stauffer allowed five runs on six hits and a walk in 1 2/3 frames.

GAME NOTES:

The Sports Network