Seattle Mariners “win” rain-shortened Spring Training debut, 5-0

Baseball is back… for an inning-and-a-half. The Mariners kicked off their Spring schedule with a matchup against the A’s on a rainy day in Mesa, Arizona.

Despite being rained out only nine outs into the game, there was more baseball played than many expected. After leaving a drenched Peoria, the Mariners were greeted by a clean and dry field in Mesa, though ominous clouds loomed in the distance. But the surface was deemed playable and the teams gave it a go.

It was all Mariners out of the gate, going up against their former prospect Paul Blackburn. Shed Long started things off with a double down the line, then Tim Beckham followed up with a single. Domingo Santana skied one just shy of the wall that scored Long on a sacrifice fly, quickly giving the M’s a 1-0 lead.

The Mariners headed into the bottom half of the inning with a 2-0 lead after Omar Narváez pushed one through the middle to score Beckham from second.

Marco Gonzales then took the bump for the M’s, retiring the side in order. This would be the only time their defense would step out on the field for the day.

The offense stayed hot against Blackburn, as Tito Polo smoked a double into the gap immediately after a Daniel Vogelbach walk. Utility infielder Dylan Moore followed things up with a double down the left field line, scoring both Vogelbach and Polo to make it 4-0 Mariners.

Another Shed Long double – this one of the ground rule variety – put Moore across the plate and that would be about it.

After the Mariners were finally put away, Gonzales went out to toss a few warm-up pitches as the rain started to pour. The tarp was quickly rolled out onto the field and the game was called roughly 15-20 minutes later.

Because the game was called so early, the results and stats of the game will not count.

Though the forecast predicts more rain, the Mariners and A’s are set to play again at Peoria Sports Complex tomorrow. The game is schedule to start at 12:10 PM PT and will be broadcasted on ROOT Sports.

No starting pitcher has yet to be penciled in for the M’s, though it’s possible it will be top prospect Justus Sheffield, who was supposed to pitch the third and fourth innings of today’s outing.