Drayer: Despite rainout, plenty to like from Mariners’ short spring opener
Feb 21, 2019, 2:14 PM | Updated: 2:18 pm
Mariners manager Scott Servais said his team made good decisions at the plate Thursday. (AP)
(AP)
MESA, Ariz. – It was a long way to go for a good inning and a half of baseball, but that is exactly what Mariners manager Scott Servais saw from his squad in a quick snapshot at Hohokam Stadium before the rain came down.
Notebook: Injury updates and more from Mariners spring training
“It was great, tremendous outing,” Servais joked as the Mariners scrambled to get to the early bus after their rain-shortened 5-0 outing against the A’s.
“A lot of good at-bats on the first day,” he continued. “Guys made good decisions swinging at strikes, moving the ball around, hit the ball to the opposite field. Good start.”
Going against A’s starter (and former Mariners prospect) Paul Blackburn, the Mariners put up two runs in the first inning – and they did so while displaying a number of the fundamentals that were drilled in the last five days. After Shed Long led off with the first of his two doubles, Tim Beckham got him to third on a ball hit the other way. Domingo Santana followed with a 3-2 sac fly to deep right-center that scored Long and advanced Beckham to second. Then Omar Narváez singled to center to drive in Beckham.
“It’s funny, we have talked about it a lot, it’s the awareness,” said Servais of his team’s base running, including Beckham moving to second from first on Santana’s fly ball. “What are we looking for, picking up that extra 90 feet. Get us an extra run, those type of things are really important. Nice to see guys jump on it right away.”
The game was called shortly after Marco Gonzales took the mound to pitch his second inning. The plan was to get him a full two innings but the weather limited him to a 1-2-3, 13-pitch outing with one strikeout.
“I felt really good,” Gonzales said. “My main goal was to throw strikes and attack guys. Get ahead in the count. I felt like I did a decent job of that. I was ready to keep working in the second inning, unfortunately Mother Nature had different plans.”
Gonzales did not throw any extra pitches once the game was called and said that he would look to perhaps make up for it in his next bullpen session. Regardless, short mound time against hitters is better than being forced to throw an added bullpen or sim game back in Peoria.
“He looked pretty good,” Servais said of Gonzales. “It’s cold out there, misting. Again we just wanted to make sure we could get him up on the mound, get him going. He’s got work to do, we all are a little rusty this time of spring. I thought he looked fine.”
The Mariners scored three more runs in the top half of the second inning with Daniel Vogelbach drawing a leadoff walk, Tito Polo and Dylan Moore hitting back-to-back doubles, Braden Bishop advancing a runner with a groundout to first and Long driving in the final run with a double to center.
Gonzales appreciated what he saw from the offense.
“I love it,” he said. “You have got some energy in the dugout going. You have got some good vibes. Guys playing for each other, guys getting excited we are scoring. That’s huge this early.”
The two teams are scheduled to play again Friday, though once again there is rain in the forecast. The pitching matchup for the game that weather permitting will be played in Peoria is Seattle’s Mike Leake versus the Athletics’ Daniel Mengden.
Drayer: Healy builds new foundation at plate after up-and-down M’s debut
