Dunn started Thursday's Cactus League win over the Giants and allowed three earned runs on a hit, three walks and a wild pitch over 2.2 innings. He struck out three.
Locked in a battle with Nick Margevicius for the sixth and final spot in the Mariners' starting rotation, Dunn may have damaged his case some with his control issues Thursday. The location problems sprung up suddenly, as Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports the right-hander retired the first seven batters he faced while striking out Tommy La Stella and Evan Longoria before unraveling. "I'm taking the learning lesson," Dunn said. "I'd rather have it happen now. [I need] to be able to speed that up and not have three walks and be able to get the next hitter right after the first one."