Mariners 11, D’Backs 5 at the Peoria Sports Complex
Notable
The Mariners exploded for six runs in the second inning with all nine hitters in the lineup coming to the plate and knocking Arizona starter Tommy Henry out of the game.
With one out, Mitch Garver and Dom Canzone picked up back-to-back singles. They would score on Tyler Locklear’s looping double just inside the right field line. Ryan Bliss drove in Locklear with a double over the head of center fielder Alek Thomas that ended Henry’s outing. Ben Williamson followed with an RBI single off reliever Alec Baker, Julio Rodriguez added a sac fly and Cal Raleigh added an RBI double.
Seattle added two more runs in the third inning. Canzone ripped a run-scoring double into right field and Ben Williamson tripled on a soft fly ball to right field.
The Mariners banged out 17 total hits in the game with five hitters collecting multiple hits. Seattle’s pitchers were also solid. Relievers Casey Legumina, Shintaro Fujinami, Josh Fleming and Adonis Medina all worked scoreless frames.
Player of the game
Garver reached base in all three of his plate appearances, singling twice and working a walk. One of Garver’s singles had a 112-mph exit velocity, one of the hardest hit balls on the day in MLB. He scored two runs and also played solid defense behind the plate.
“Garv looked great today with his at-bats, and did a nice job behind the plate,” manager Dan Wilson said. “He did put a lot of work in and the ball was jumping off his bat today. I thought his swing looked free and easy, nice and relaxed, and hit the ball hard for us.”
Quotable
“A lot of positives today, especially early on with some really good two-strike at-bats and two-strike approaches. We got some base runners on, we were being aggressive on the bases, taking that extra base when we could and it led to a lot of runs. We took advantage of their mistakes when we had to. And pitchers really dominated the zone today, threw a lot of strikes and kept filling it up all day.” — Wilson
On Tap
The Mariners travel to American Family Fields of Phoenix in Maryvale to face the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday afternoon. Right-hander Logan Gilbert will make his first start of the spring for Seattle. Also scheduled to pitch are right-handers Trent Thornton, Collin Snider and Sauryn Lao and lefties Gabe Speier, Tayler Saucedo and Brandyn Garcia. First pitch is set for 12:10 p.m. PT. The game will not be televised.