Guardians 5, Mariners 4 at Goodyear Ballpark
Notable
Down 5-1 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Mariners put together a late rally against Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase, scoring three runs with the help of a few Guardians miscues. But Clase finally ended the drama, striking out minor league outfielder Miguel Perez to end the game.
Luis Castillo made his penultimate start of the spring in the familiar confines of a park he pitched in for the Reds on numerous occasions. Facing the team he will see again March 30 at T-Mobile Park, Castillo pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) — all in the third inning — on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
Castillo allowed a two-run single to Steven Kwan and a one-out RBI single to Jose Ramirez. In four starts this spring, he has an 0-1 record with a 5.25 ERA. In 12 innings pitched, he’s allowed 13 hits with four walks and 12 strikeouts.
“I feel great,” Castillo said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. “Maybe I don’t have the best spring numbers that I’ve had, but I’m kind of always take it as superstition. If I’m not doing great here at spring training, I know I’m gonna have a good regular season.”
The Mariners were largely shut down by Cleveland starter Zach Plesac, who pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits with a walk and four strikeouts. The one run allowed came in the seventh inning after Plesac had left the game when he issued a one-out walk to Tom Murphy. His replacement, Phillip Diehl, gave up an RBI single to Colin Moran.
Player of the game
Coming in as a replacement, Mike Ford reached base twice. He worked a walk in his first plate appearance and then hammered a crisp single to right off Clase in the ninth inning to score a run.
Quotable
“Luis threw the ball perfectly fine. He got a couple of pitches up in that one inning, but other than that, his stuff was good and obviously he’s going to see this team here in a couple of weeks. Offensively, obviously Plesac threw the ball really well. It is what it is, a spring training game.” — manager Scott Servais
On tap
The Mariners will be a split squad Sunday, playing games simultaneously at two locations. There will be team hosting the Chicago White Sox at Peoria Stadium. Lefty Robbie Ray will make the start in that game with right-handers Paul Sewald, Justin Topa, Chris Clarke and Jose Rodriguez scheduled to pitch. The Sox will start their ace, right-hander Dylan Cease. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. PT. The game will be on ROOT TV and have a live radio broadcast on Seattle Sports 710-AM and Mariners.com
The other contingent of Mariners will be just down Bell Road at Surprise Stadium, where they’ll face the Texas Rangers. Right-hander Bryce Miller will start with J.B Bukauskas listed as a scheduled pitcher. The Rangers will start their top free-agent signing, right-hander Jacob deGrom. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. PT. That game will not be televised, but the Rangers radio broadcast will be available on the MLB.com
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