Spring training: George Kirby runs into trouble in first start as Mariners fall to Rockies

Rockies 7, Mariners 1 at Peoria Stadium

Notable

The Mariners played an ugly game, committing three errors and failing to make a few other plays on defense while only tallying three hits.

Making his first start of the spring, right-hander George Kirby didn’t quite make his two scheduled innings of work, instead reaching his pitch count following a lengthy second inning.

Kirby worked a smooth 1-2-3 inning in the first but ran into trouble in the second. He gave up a leadoff double to Michael Toglia and left a pitch up in the zone that Alan Trejo put onto the berm in left-center for a 2-0 lead. An error from Ty France at first base on a routine ground ball helped the Rockies score two more runs in the inning and knocked Kirby out of the game with one out.

Seattle did get solid relief work from Penn Murfee, who retired the three batters he faced, including a strikeout.

Player of the game

The Mariners’ lone run of the game came in the sixth inning when first baseman Jake Scheiner sent a line drive over the fence in left field for his first homer of the spring. Scheiner, who was acquired in 2019 in a trade that sent Jay Bruce to the Phillies, posted a .252/.356/.455 slash line with 34 doubles, 21 homers, 105 RBI, 73 walks and 119 strikeouts for Double-A Arkansas last season.

Quotable

“Yeah, it wasn’t great. You are going to have those clunkers once in a while. We just didn’t play a clean game and didn’t make the plays that we normally make on defense. First time out there for George, I thought it was fine. We didn’t help him that much defensively. I thought we had some good swings early off of [Kyle] Freeland, but after the pitchers they threw at us were really good. It’s one of those days where you kind of wash it away.” — manager Scott Servais

On tap

The Mariners are back on the road Sunday, facing the Milwaukee Brewers at Maryvale Ballpark. Right-hander Chris Flexen will make his second start of the spring for Seattle. Also scheduled to pitch are right-handers Paul Sewald, Diego Castillo, Matt Brash and Chris Clarke along with lefties Brennan Bernardino and Nick Margevicius. The Brewers will start right-hander Brandon Woodruff. First pitch is set for 12:10 p.m. PT. Bally Sports Wisconsin will televise the game, which is available via stream on MLB TV. The game will also have a live radio broadcast on Spokane’s 700-AM and mariners.com