PEORIA, Ariz. — If there was any doubt the Mariners are in a “win now” mode – and there shouldn’t have been – manager Scott Servais re-emphasized the point recently when questioned regarding a promising player’s development. “I think the way we’re built this year, we want to compete,” Servais said. “We feel good about our club. So it’s who is going to be able to help us win on a daily basis?

Part of the learning process this spring for the Mariners in implementing an increased reliance on defensive shifts is the reality that the maneuver is going to backfire on occasions.

The thinning continues in the Mariners’ bullpen.

PEORIA, Ariz. – Welington Castillo homered and drove in five runs, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Seattle Mariners 10-8 Monday. Castillo did all his damage in the game’s first four innings, getting three hits. He’s coming off a successful 2015 season that saw him find a home behind the plate as the Diamondbacks’ No. 1 catcher over the second half. He had 17 home runs and 50 RBIs in 80 games after the Mariners traded him to Arizona in early June.

Hisashi Iwakuma, who missed 10 weeks last season with a strained right lat, pitched two spotless innings in his first spring outing as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Texas Rangers 7-3 Sunday. Iwakuma logged four groundball outs.

It was Rey Navarro whose RBI double in the eighth inning broke a tie Saturday and lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a 9-7 victory over the Mariners at Peoria Stadium.

If this Cactus League opener produces the dawn of a new era for the Mariners, it couldn’t have gone much better than Wednesday’s 7-0 romp over the San Diego Padres at Peoria Stadium.