Mariners hang 20 runs on Guardians in Cactus League win
Mariners 20, Guardians 8 at Goodyear Ballpark
Notable
If the Cleveland Guardians were thinking of starting lefty Logan Allen at some point during that opening series in Seattle, they may want to reconsider.
The Mariners hung 12 runs on Allen over the first four innings and rolled to a 20-8 drubbing.
Dating back to 1994, the 20 runs were the most ever scored in a Cactus League game by a Mariners team.
After failing to score off Allen in the top of the first despite getting the first two batters on base, the Mariners turned the rest of his outing into misery. Allen started each of the next three innings, but never finished any of them.
How could he do that? Under the revamped spring training rules, a starting pitcher can reenter the game if he’s removed in the middle of an inning due to usage.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt had to pull Allen with one out in the second after throwing 25 pitches while giving up a solo homer to Cole Young, giving up a two-run double to Brendan Donovan and walking Julio Rodríguez. His replacement Tyler Thornton wasn’t much better. Thornton served up a grand slam to Dominic Canzone and a three-run homer to Victor Robles in what was a 10-run second inning.
Allen started the third inning and was lifted after 23 pitches. He surrendered singles to the first four batters he faced, including RBI singles to Randy Arozarena and Canzone. He got Connor Joe to line out for the only out he’d record in the inning. Young doubled to right to score two runs and Robles followed with a double to score Young to make it five runs scored in the third. Allen was lifted for right-hander Jay Driver, who ended the inning.
With Cleveland trying to build Allen’s overall pitch count, he started the fourth and immediately gave up a hard single to Donovan. He then left a fastball up that Rodríguez smashed off the batter’s eye for a two-run homer. Allen was able to get two outs, but when he allowed his 14th hit of the game — a hard single to Joe — he was lifted for the final time. His final line: 2 1/3 innings pitched, 12 earned runs on 14 hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Player of the game
Young has been one of the best power hitters this spring in all of MLB. But it was his second homer of the game that left people stunned. Facing former Mariner Matt Festa in the sixth inning, Young took advantage of a low sweeper that stayed in the middle of the plate, launching it deep to left-center. The ball carried over the berm and out of the stadium. MLB Statcast measured the blast at 109 mph and traveling 478 feet. Yes, 478 feet. Per Statcast measured games this spring in both the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues, it is the longest homer.
“He’s just seeing the ball so well, and really swinging against left-handers too,” manager Dan Wilson said. “He’s just seeing the ball great and putting the barrel on it. And it can be that simple.”
Young now has six homers this spring, which is second most in the Cactus League, behind Shea Langeliers of the A’s and Matt McLain of the Reds.
Quotable
“Just an offensive explosion tonight. No question. Guys came out and really swung the bat from really the beginning to the end. We get 10 runs in that second inning. Dom with the big blast. Cole just continuing to find barrels and driving balls out of the ballpark. Julio with a nice one. BD (Donovan) getting us started at the top again. You start naming names, and you’re going to forget people, because everybody was swinging the bat so well up and down the lineup tonight.” — Wilson
On Tap
The Mariners will play their final home game of their Cactus League schedule on Saturday night, hosting the Chicago Cubs. A large crowd is expected to pack the Peoria Sports Complex for the home finale. Right-hander George Kirby will make his final start of the spring for Seattle. The Cubs will start right-hander Colin Rea. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. The game will have a live stream on MLB.TV and Mariners.TV with a live radio broadcast on 700-AM and the MLB app.