Angels 5, Mariners 1 at Peoria Stadium
Notable
Marco Gonzales started the game and worked two innings, allowing four runs in the second. Admittedly fatigued and losing his command, he surrendered a two-run homer to Jo Adell. The other two runs came off the bat of former Kentwood standout Taylor Jones, who was Gonzales’ teammate at Gonzaga. Jones blooped a soft single to center on a pitch off the end of his bat with two outs.
Right-handed reliever Chris Clarke, who was the Mariners’ Rule 5 draft pick, gave up the other run in the fourth inning on a passed ball. He allowed three hits.
First baseman Evan White made outstanding plays on defense, showing he’s healthy and back to his Gold Glove form. With a runner on third in the fourth inning and the infield playing in on the grass, White made a diving stop on a hard ground ball off the bat of David Fletcher. He scrambled to his feet and fired to home to get the runner at the plate.
In the fifth inning, White made a diving stop behind the first bag on Mickey Moniak’s hard ground ball up the line and hustled to first for the third out of the inning.
Player of the game
The Mariners’ lone run came in the fifth inning when young outfielder Cade Marlowe mashed a 1-0 pitch from right-hander Jonathan Holder to dead center and above the yellow line on the batter’s eye for the Mariners’ first homer of the spring.
Quotable
“Marco obviously got behind in the count a little bit and left a couple up. His stuff was fine. He just didn’t locate like we’re used to seeing from him, which is very typical for the first time. The other guys after him — we didn’t control the zone quite as well today as we typically do. We fell behind, but we’re getting that first-game jitters out of the way so to speak. Everybody in camp now has played within the first couple of days, so we’ll get building on that.” — Manager Scott Servais
On tap
The Mariners play their first game away from their complex, traveling Sunday afternoon to Surprise Stadium to face the Royals. Right-hander Easton McGee will make the start for the Mariners with right-hander Ryder Ryan and Justin Topa and lefty Gabe Speier scheduled to pitch. Kansas City will start right-hander Brad Keller. First pitch is set for 12:05 p.m. PT. The game will have a live radio broadcast on Seattle Sports 710 and mariners.com.