Seven Mariners pitchers combine for shutout in spring opener
PEORIA, Ariz. – If this Cactus League opener produces the dawn of a new era for the Mariners, it couldn’t have gone much better than Wednesday’s 7-0 romp over the San Diego Padres at Peoria Stadium.
With a roster retooled in the offseason by new general manager Jerry Dipoto, and sporting a new manager in Scott Servais, the only drawback for the Mariners on this sunny afternoon was, well, it doesn’t count for much.
Even so, there was much to like.
Lefty James Paxton began his quest to retain a spot in the rotation by working two scoreless innings. Six pitchers followed in closing out a four-hit shutout.
“It felt great to be back on the mound,” Paxton said, “and facing guys who aren’t our own guys. It was fun. First time out, and I felt I was pounding the strike zone pretty well.
“I tried to do too much on a few pitches. But I felt it was a really good starting point for spring training.”
The overhauled lineup delivered 12 hits, including home runs by Chris Iannetta, Franklin Gutierrez and Stefen Romero.
“Our pitching, obviously, threw strikes,” Servais said. “We were ahead in the count for the most part. The thing that stood out for me, as much as anything, is our at-bats were very competitive.”
Iannetta opened the scoring with a two-run homer on a 2-2 slider from Luis Perdomo in the second inning.
Gutierrez extended the lead to 3-0 with a leadoff homer in the fourth inning against Cory Mazzoni. The ball struck high off the blue batters’s eye in center field.
Iannetta’s sacrifice fly added another run in the fourth.
The Mariners stretched their lead with two more runs in the fifth inning after the first waves of substitutes entered the game. Dan Robertson had an RBI triple and scored on Chris Taylor’s double.
Romero’s leadoff homer in the sixth made it 7-0.
Paxton started the game by striking out Melvin Upton and worked a one-two-three first inning on 15 pitches. Paxton then needed 19 pitches in working around a two-out walk in the second inning.
“Very good,” Servais said. “Under control. Commanded his pitches. Worked the change-up in there. Off to a good start. Really happy for him. He’s worked his tail off.”
The play of the game came in the third inning. The Mariners escaped a two-on, one-out threat when second baseman Robinson Cano, showing improved range over last season, gloved a sharp grounder up the middle and turned it into a double play.
“I’m not able to do that last year,” he said. “I was hurt.”
Cano played the final two months last season with a double hernia.
Notes
Seth Smith had singles in each of his two at-bats, although the second one was a charitable call on a hopper that eluded Padres first baseman Wil Myers … Cano started his spring with a line-drive single to left with two outs in the first inning …Ketel Marte worked back from an 0-2 count for a walk in his first plate appearance and then stole second…Right-hander Donn Roach worked two strong innings after relieving Paxton. Roach is likely bound for Triple-A Tacoma…Veteran reliever Joel Peralta, in camp as a non-roster invite, worked a one-two-three fifth inning…Lefty Vidal Nuno pitched a one-two-three eighth inning on 10 pitches…Tony Zych stranded two runners in the ninth inning by striking out the last two hitters.