Mariners invite big brother over for dinner, win 9-3

How does that Brew taste?

I always pay special attention when the Mariners play the Milwaukee Brewers because of the Brew Crew’s history with Seattle. Before they packed up their things and moved to the midwest, the Brewers spent a season in the northwest as the Seattle Pilots. It always strikes me as a little charming to play against the franchise that used to be in your city. Part of me hopes that the Mariners’ first World Series is played against the Brewers. The Brewers, historically speaking, have been a more put together organization, and when they play against the Mariners it can feel like the big brother has come home to harrass the M’s.

It felt like that at the start of today’s game when Bryan Woo, who hadn’t allowed an earned run to this point in Spring Training, was hit around hard in the first inning. After striking out Sal Frelick to start the game, Woo was tagged for three singles in a row before Isaac Collins cleaned up by getting ahold of a 2-2 sweeper and sending it way out to left field. Thankfully for Woo, it was just a 3-run homer instead of a grand slam because Vinny Capra was thrown out at home by Randy on the preceding play.

The top of the lineup didn’t give Woo any help in the bottom of the first, and went down in order on eight pitches. But it seems like that was enough time for Woo to shake off the homer. He pitched a quick inning in the second despite allowing a leadoff single. And again in the third, but this time with a leadoff walk.

In the bottom of the third, the bottom of the Mariners lineup decided to lead the way. Dominic Canzone, Dylan Moore, and Ryan Bliss going station to station with back-to-back-to-back singles and loading the bases for Victor Robles. Robles kept the hit train rolling with a sharp single of his own, putting the M’s on the board and keeping the bases loaded. Luke Raley collected an RBI in the worst possible way (bases loaded double play), which brought up Cal Raleigh with Bliss at 3rd. On the radio Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr. were talking about the stiff breeze blowing out to right field, and saying that if Cal were to pull it up into that jetstream it could go all the way to the Padres complex next door. As if on cue, Cal turned on a middle-middle cutter and blasted it 113.7 mph out to right. It didn’t have the launch angle to get up in the wind, but with that exit velocity it didn’t even matter. With one swing Cal gave the M’s a 4-3 lead and totally changed the tone of the game.

From there, it was easy sailing and a smooth brew for the Mariners. Woo had fully shaken off his first inning woes and locked in, setting the Brewers down in order in the 4th and 5th innings, collecting 3 strikeouts in the process. He was replaced in the 6th by Tayler Saucedo, who was clearly working on his sinker. He threw it 8 times out of his 12 total pitches. And it worked wonders for him, as he got each of his three batters to ground out weakly.

Before that the M’s had extended their lead, capitalizing on a leadoff walk by Ryan Bliss. Victor Robles sacrificed himself to bunt Bliss over to second, and Raley brought him home with a double off the wall in left-center. Raley got to come home himself when Randy Arozarena did basically the same thing, putting the Mariners fully 3 runs in the lead.

But that lead wasn’t big enough for the offense’s tastes. They really wanted to give the former Pilots an airshow. In the 6th, Donovan Solano led off with a double and advanced to third on a Dominic Canzone lineout. After Dylan Moore walked, Ryan Bliss hit a ground ball to short, and Donny Barrels tried to turn it into a run. But his 25.5 ft/s spring speed is Quite Bad, and he was thrown out at home. All of this was merely academic, however, as Victor Robles had a much simpler plan to score runs. Hit the ball as hard as you possibly can.

I give that moonshot 5 big booms and 3 Mariners runs. With a 6 run lead and the Mariners’ major league bullpen getting reps today, the second string of Brewers had no chance. Andrés Muñoz came in for the 7th and eviscerated Manuel Margot, Caleb Durbin, and Jorge Alfaro. Like Saucedo, it looks like he was working on his sinker and his 4-seamer, only throwing his slider twice. His vaunted fastball is getting up to its mid-season form, with it touching 98.5 mph today.

Carlos Vargas pitched the 8th, and actually allowed some baserunners for the Brewers when Vinny Capra and Brock Wilken reached on error. The first was charged to Caleb Cali at third, with the second going to Vargas himself. But it was all for naught and Vargas induced an inning-ending groundout from Blake Burke to halt the would-be rally.

Finally, Casey Legumina got to close out the game in the 9th, and unfortunately earned the distinction of being the first Mariners pitcher to allow a hit since the second inning. But it was on a low-inside fastball that Jimmy Herron miraculously popped the other way for a single. Sometimes the other guy just beats you. Legumina didn’t let it get to him though, and all that single amounted to was him having to throw a few more pitches.

Even though Julio is down with an illness right now, it’s good to see that a lineup which looks more and more like the opening day team is capable of hanging 9 runs on a team that’s famous for its pitching prowess. Who knows? If Tellez and Solano can play to their upside this year the way Raley and Robles did last year, this could be a very fun team to watch. And then maybe the little brother wouldn’t have to sit at the kids table anymore.