A’s 7, Mariners 6 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa
Notable
When the original lineup for the game was posted, Luke Raley was set to play first base. Then Julio Rodriguez was feeling under the weather and Raley was shifted into center field. It ended up being an eventful day for Raley that included two doubles — one should have been ruled a triple — a leaping catch while crashing into the center field wall and a filthy jersey by the end of his eight innings in center field. Randy Arozarena also had two hits and Cal Raleigh homered for the second time this spring, a solo shot in the eighth inning. Righty Casey Lawrence threw 4 2/3 innings, but couldn’t retire Jacob Wilson, who homered twice off Lawrence. Gregory Santos worked one inning of relief and allowed one run on two hits. Santos touched 99 mph on the stadium radar gun, but both hits allowed came on off-speed pitches. Ryan Bliss had a strong game in the field at second base, although he was charged with an error that most times would be ruled an infield hit. The M’s pulled even in the ninth on Austin St. Laurent’s RBI single that scored Victor Robles, but the A’s won it in the bottom of the inning on a walkoff single from Max P. Muncy.
Player of the game
Raley was thrilled to get the work in center field after spending his time this spring at first base. He was unsure if his leaping catch robbed Tyler Soderstrom of a homer, but it did leave his back a little sore. “It just so happens the pads aren’t very padded here,” he said. At the plate, his chopper into the right-field corner in the fourth inning was ruled a double and an error by the right fielder, but he roped another double in the eighth.
Quotable
“My dad used to say when I’d come home and my uniform was clean, he’s like, ‘Well, you must not have played that well today.’ So it’s just one of those things I still think about that and having some dirt on the uniform means that you played hard and did some things, right?” Raley said.
On tap
The Mariners return to Peoria Sports Complex to face the Milwaukee Brewers. Righty Bryan Woo is scheduled to start with Andres Muñoz, Trent Thornton and Tayler Saucedo also slated to throw. First pitch is 1:10 p.m. PT.