PEORIA, Ariz. - New Seattle Mariners starter Miguel Batista has fallen in love with his new infield defense.

Batista pitched four innings and was the winning pitcher in a 7 to 3 Cactus League victory over the Kansas City Royals Friday in Peoria, Arizona.

AP

Seattle Mariners' Willie Bloomquist, left, beats the tag of Kansas City Royals catcher John Buck while scoring in the third inning of their spring training baseball game in Peoria, Ariz., Friday, March 16, 2007.

The 36-year-old right-hander got nine groundball outs and two double plays in improving his record to 2 and 0 and his ERA to 3.00 in three starts this spring. He gave up two runs.

Batista was an 11-game winner with the Arizona Diamondbacks last season and signed with Seattle as a free agent on December 14.

After he came out of Friday's game, Batista talked about the defense that will play behind him this season, saying, the Mariners infielders are showing him that he doesn't need to be too fine because they can catch the ball.

The regulars supplied the offense for Seattle in the game. Ichiro Suzuki had an RBI double and Raul Ibanez hit a three-run homer as the Mariners jumped out to an early 4 to 0 lead.

Kenji Johjima and Ben Broussard had two hits apiece for the Mariners, while teammate Willie Bloomquist went 4-for-4 with an RBI to increase his spring batting average to .500.

With a 5 and 12 spring record, the Mariners will face the Texas Rangers Saturday at 1:05 p.m., with left-hander Horacio Ramirez scheduled to start.