Mariners 12, Brewers 8 at the American Family Fields of Phoenix
Notable
Logan Gilbert made his first start of the spring, and produced mixed results. After working a scoreless first inning that featured a leadoff walk and three strikeouts to follow, he issued another leadoff walk to start the second and allowed a single, which ended his inning.
His replacement — Charlie Beilenson — couldn’t finish the inning. The young right-hander, a fifth-round pick out of Duke in 2024 who made four appearances at Low-A Modesto, walked the first batter he faced on a 3-2 pitch violation to load the bases.
It continued to snowball.
Sal Frelick hit a ground ball to third base that beat the Mariners’ modified shift for a two-run double. It only got worse for Beilenson.
Jake Bauer hit a one-hop comebacker to the mound. The ball struck Beilenson in the rear end and bounced in front of the mound. Stunned a little, Beilenson scrambled after the ball and had a play at first base but his throw sailed over the head of Rowdy Tellez for a two-run error. After he was unable to make a play on swinging bunt from Jackson Chourio, Beilenson got a much-needed double play but he couldn’t finish the inning. William Contreras singled to center to end his outing.
Jason Ruffcorn, Beilenson’s replacement, couldn’t end the inning immediately. Miles Mastrobuoni committed a throwing error on a routine ground ball that allowed another to score for the fifth run in the inning.
The Brewers’ lead ballooned to 7-1 when Collin Snider allowed back-to-back solo homers to Rhys Hoskins and Oliver Dunn in the fifth inning. Seattle’s lone run was off a Mitch Haniger solo home run in the second inning.
But Seattle rallied behind its young prospects, scoring six runs in the top of the sixth with two-run doubles from Jack Lopez and Michael Arroyo and a two-run single from Harry Ford.
The Mariners continued to add on via the long ball, with a two-run homer from Hogan Windish — his second in three games — and a three-run blast from Lazaro Montes.
Over the last three games, the Mariners have scored a total of 33 runs on 41 hits.
Player of the game
Lazaro Montes talent and tantalizing potential was on full display in his second Cactus League game. With the Mariners leading 9-8 in the top of eighth, Montes hit a towering fly ball to dead center. The ball just kept carrying, hitting off the batter’s eye about 25 feet above the warning track for a three-run homer. It was a preposterous blast that displayed Montes’ raw power.
But the Mariners were also pleased that Montes worked two walks in his first two plate appearances, showing an improved discipline on pitches out of the strike zone. He would eventually score runs after both of those walks.
Quotable
“It was good to see the ball leave the ballpark. It started with Hanny and not to be outdone by Hogan again and the Laz at the end. I think we’re really seeing the positives of using that middle-of-the-field approach. Guys are really driving the ball that way out to the middle, and the ball was carrying really well today.” — Dan Wilson
On Tap
The Mariners remain on the road for a second straight game, traveling to Camelback Ranch on Tuesday afternoon to face the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Right-hander Luis Castillo will make his first start this spring for Seattle. Also scheduled to pitch for the Mariners are right-handers Cody Bolton, Will Klein and Jess Hahn along with lefties Drew Pomeranz and Austin Kitchen.
The Dodgers are starting lefty and Shorewood alum Blake Snell. First pitch is set for 12:05 p.m. PT. The game will be televised on Spectrum Sportsnet LA and mlb.tv (with a subscription).