Teenage lefty Gohara earns first win

Luiz Gohara has yet to turn 17, but the left-hander from Tupa, Brazil now can say he's won a game in professional baseball.

The Mariners' No. 14 prospect gave up three hits and struck out nine in five shutout innings to earn the victory in Rookie-level Pulaski's 4-2 defeat of Princeton at Hunnicutt Field on Monday night.

Gohara (1-1), a left-hander who reaches the mid-90s with his fastball and also mixes in a slider, signed with the Mariners last August after turning 16 on July 31. He's adjusting to life far away from his family in a country that doesn't speak his language.

"It's very, very difficult," Gohara told the Roanoke Times through Pulaski pitching coach Nasusel Cabrera. "But I know this is going to be my career. My family can come see me, though."

It might be a difficult journey, but the Goharas have made the trek before.

"They came to see him when we were in Arizona [in Spring Training] too," Cabrera told the newspaper.

Gohara made just his third appearance in the Seattle system against the Rays on Sunday. In his first two starts, the 6-foot-3 hurler experienced two very different outcomes. Gohara gave up two runs -- one earned -- on six hits while striking out five and without a walk in four shutout innings in his pro debut June 21 against Burlington. The next time out at home against Danville, he was tagged for four runs on five hits and two walks while fanning a pair in 1 2/3 innings.

Against a Rays lineup stacked with nine right-handed hitters -- all of whom are at least three years older than him -- Gohara gave up a single by Bralin Jackson in the first inning and then retired 11 in a row before working around singles by Yoel Araujo and Johnny Eierman in the fifth.

Gohara finished his outing by striking out Wilmer Dominguez. He fanned two in the second, two in the third and struck out the side in the fourth.

Leoncio Munoz, Daniel Thieben and Rafael Pineda combined to give up two runs on four hits over four innings to close out the victory. Pulaski struck out 12 batters, tying the team's season high.

Jeffrey Zimmerman led the way offensively for the Mariners, singling in the game's first run in the first and blasting a solo shot in the third. The first baseman scored twice and raised his average to .233. Cleanup hitter Tyler Smith had three hits, including a triple, and drove in a run.

D.J. Slaton (0-1) gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings to take the loss for the Rays. The 37th-round pick in the 2013 Draft has allowed five runs and 14 hits and fanned nine in 11 innings over three starts.