Indians blow out Mariners 16-3

Yan Gomes hit a grand slam and drove in five runs and the Cleveland Indians defeated the Seattle Mariners 16-3 Sunday in Peoria, Arizona.

The Mariners suffered through their first Cactus League blowout of the spring. Starter Rob Whalen was credited with just two innings pitched, giving up nine runs (eight earned) on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Whalen didn’t help himself with a pair of throwing errors that led to runs being scored.

Whalen actually worked into the third inning, but never recorded an out. He exited with the bases loaded and watched as minor league call-up reliever Bryan Bonnell served up a grand slam to Yan Gomes.

Reliever Ryan Cook also struggled, giving up five runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning pitched, aided by three walks.

Cleveland had 17 hits in the game and drew seven walks.

Offensively, Zach Vincej drove in a pair of runs and Kyle Seager added a RBI single.

Pitching in the second of scheduled back-to-back outings, set-up man Juan Nicasio looked strong, working a 1-2-3 fifth inning with strikeouts of Lonnie Chisenall and Yonder Alonso. His fastball velocity, which had been slow to build this spring, was back up to 95 mph hour.