It’s not always going to be pretty when you start five rookies and three second-year Major Leaguers, as evidenced by the Mariners’ 10-2 loss to the Angels in Tuesday’s series opener in Anaheim.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be eye-opening moments and flashes of promise, which the youngest team in MLB showed again in the fifth game of this abbreviated season.

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While the learning curve clearly is going to be slippery and wins hard to come by for the 1-4 Mariners, there will be small victories along the way that hopefully add up to something more down the road.

“Our young guys are learning a little bit every night,” said manager Scott Servais.

Here’s how the key youngsters fared:

White flashes the leather
The Mariners were thrilled to see rookie first baseman Evan White blast his first career home run on Sunday, but the 24-year-old’s greatest asset figures to be an outstanding glove, and he showed it again with an excellent diving snag of a 103-mph smash by Mike Trout in the first inning in this one.

White not only snared Trout’s drive, but he quickly hopped to his feet to double off David Fletcher, who had led off the game with a walk.

“He’s just so athletic and instinctive,” Servais said of White. “That ball was smoked. To be able to grab that and turn it into a double play was big just to get the ball rolling for [starter Justus Sheffield] and get him going in the game. And Evan swung the bat well tonight again.”

Lopes likes lefties
Tim Lopes made the Mariners roster as a utility player, but the 26-year-old seems intent on working his way into the lineup on a regular basis as he’s swinging one of the hottest bats on the club.

Lopes homered to the opposite field off Angels starter Patrick Sandoval in the fourth inning in a 2-for-4 day and is now 6-for-13 in three games. Servais wants to play Lopes against lefties, as he’d slashed .313/.389/.438 in 54 plate appearances against southpaws in his limited time with Mariners, and Servais had him at designated hitter for the first time in this one.

“You hit, you play,” Servais said. “There’s a saying for that and a reason why. Timmy grew up not too far from here, so it was a big night for him to hit a home run here in the ballpark. He and Kyle Lewis have been fantastic since we’ve gotten going here. Quality at-bats, using the whole field to hit. We’ll keep him in there tomorrow, that’s for sure.”

Lewis doing it all
The rookie center fielder has been the Mariners’ best player in the early going, and he added to that with a 2-for-4 night at the plate on a pair of singles. The 2016 first-round Draft pick has hits in all five games to start the season and is batting .421 (8-for-19) with a pair of home runs.

Lewis is tied for second in the Majors for most hits with Boston’s Jackie Bradley Jr., Houston’s Michael Brantley and the Dodgers’ Justin Turner, trailing only the 10 of Anaheim’s Fletcher.

And this time, he added some fancy glovework of his own with an outstanding diving catch of a low sinking liner by Justin Upton in the sixth inning.

Sheffield struggles after quick start
Less encouraging was a three-plus-inning start by rookie southpaw Sheffield, who gave up four runs on three hits and four walks. The 24-year-old showed flashes as he zipped through the first two frames on 20 pitches, but his command wobbled and the Angels wore him down during a 39-pitch third.

“We really hadn’t seen him do that,” Servais said of the control issues. “All spring and in Summer Camp, he was attacking and getting ahead in the count and putting people away quickly. Not so easy tonight for him. He’ll learn from it and be better the next time out.”

Sheffield struggled to control his emotions and was overamped at times during several late-season starts last year. And while he said it had nothing to do with pitching in an empty stadium, he acknowledged this time he found himself at the other end of the spectrum.

“I could have actually turned it up a little today,” Sheffield said. “From the jump, I felt like I was just out there trying to guide the ball and working slow. I wasn’t really being a dog on the mound tonight, so that was frustrating. Usually, when I get up there on the bump, I’m going after guys and am trying to put them away. It was a struggle tonight trying to do that.”