Luis Castillo sharp, Randy Arozarena homers in Mariners’ final spring game
Padres 10, Mariners 3 at Peoria Sports Complex
Time to play (real) ball.
Luis Castillo was sharp over five innings in his final spring tuneup and Randy Arozarena hit an opposite-field home run as the Mariners closed out Cactus League play Monday afternoon in 94-degree heat against their Peoria neighbors, the San Diego Padres.
The five hitters in what figures to be the top of the Mariners’ opening day lineup — Brendan Donovan, Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Josh Naylor and Arozarena — each had at least two plate appearances in Monday’s spring finale.
Donovan had a walk, a strikeout and scored the game’s first run on Julio Rodríguez’s RBI single in the first inning.
Donovan, the new third baseman, slashed .413/.491/.543 (1.034 OPS) over 57 plate appearance in his first spring with the Mariners.
Raleigh had two hits in his three at-bats Monday, including a 380-foot double off the wall in left-center field in the first inning, measured at 114.2 mph off the bat. It would have been a home run at 20 MLB parks (including T-Mobile Park), per Statcast metrics.
Arozarena hit his second homer of spring, this one off Padres starter Germán Márquez in the third inning.
Matt Brash allowed one walk and an unearned run in the sixth inning.
Carlos Vargas pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
A day after he learned he won the backup catcher’s job, Mitch Garver made his first spring start at first base. Garver has made a dozen appearances at first base in his career — his last regular-season appearance was 2023, coming in for one inning for the Texas Rangers — and he’s likely viewed as a just-in-case option behind Naylor this season.
With mostly minor-leaguers in the game for both teams, the Padres scored eight runs in the eighth inning to pull away, highlighted by Romeo Sanabria’s grand slam.
The Mariners finished Cactus League play with an 11-19 record. Notably, they were 11-19-2 in spring games in 2025.
Player of the game
Castillo looked in midseason form, allowing one run on four hits with five strikeouts, one walk and one hit batter. He induced 14 whiffs on 76 pitches. Half of those swings-and-misses came on his four-seam fastball, which averaged 94.9 mph and topped out at 97.1.
On tap
The Mariners were scheduled to depart for Seattle immediately after Monday’s game. They have an off day Tuesday and a team workout at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday evening before Thursday’s regular-season opener against the Cleveland Guardians.
Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert is scheduled for his second straight opening day start opposite Cleveland right-hander Tanner Bibee. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Thursday.