Brewers 7, Mariners 5 at the American Family Fields of Phoenix
Notable
The Mariners jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning against Milwaukee starter Tobias Myers. Luke Raley led off the game with a double off the top of the wall in deep right-center and later scored on Jorge Polanco’s two-out single through the right side. Mitch Garver followed with a two-run homer to left-center on an 0-1 fastball.
The Brewers answered immediately with two runs in the bottom of the first against Seattle starter Casey Lawrence. Jackson Chourio led off with a single and Christian Yelich sent a line drive over the wall in left field for a two-run homer.
Milwaukee took the leading for good in the third inning, scoring five runs.
After giving up a one-out double to Chourio, Lawrence was replaced by lefty Austin Kitchen, who struggled to get the final two outs of the inning despite retiring Yelich – the first batter he faced.
With two outs, Kitchen walked William Contreras, gave up a RBI single Garrett Mitchell and couldn’t turn two swinging bunts in front of the mound into outs. It kept the inning going for Joey Ortiz, who launched a triple off the wall in center to score two runs and make it 7-2.
Besides losing the game, the Mariners will likely lose Garver for a few days. After homering in that first plate appearance, Garver took a fastball off his right wrist/hand. He was removed from the game and underwent x-rays.
The Mariners cut the lead to 7-5 in the seventh. Harry Ford doubled home a run and later scored on ground out to second base.
Player of the game
Polanco made his second start of the spring at third base and had no major issues from a defensive standpoint. At the plate, he had two hits, scored a run and drove in another.
“I’m seeing the ball much better at the plate,” he said a few days ago. “I’m able to stay back and see pitches longer. I don’t have to jump at pitches. That’s how it felt with knee last season.”
Quotable
“We’ve scored a lot of runs with two outs and gotten some big RBIs in those situations. The guys are doing what they are supposed to do. They’re using the whole field and they’re fighting till the end. And that’s all you can ask for.” — Dan Wilson
Recent Roster Moves
Monday
Optioned to Triple-A Tacoma: Cody Bolton, RHP
Re-assigned to minor league camp: Michael Arroyo, INF, Luis F. Castillo, RHP, Jhonathan Díaz, LHP, Adonis Medina, RHP, Jacob Nottingham, C, Nick Raposo, C
Saturday
Reassigned to Minor League Camp: Brock Rodden, INF, Cade Marlowe, OF, Spencer Packard, OF, Rhylan Thomas, OF
On Tap
The Mariners have Tuesday off from Cactus League games. However, the Mariners complex won’t be without action. Minor league camp is now in full swing. There will also be game action featuring at least one MLB player. Right-hander Bryce Miller will start in a minor league game at 1 p.m. to stay on normal rest.
Seattle will return to action on Wednesday afternoon vs. the Kansas City Royals. Right-hander Bryan Woo will make the start for Seattle while right-hander Ross Stripling will start for Kansas City.