SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The Mariners and Giants each hit 4 home runs, but San Francisco prevailed, 10-7, before a sellout crowd of 11,226 on Friday afternoon at Scottsdale Stadium. Dee Gordon led Seattle with 2 home runs while Nelson Cruz and Daniel Vogelbach added 1 home run apiece.
The scoring opened in the top of the 2nd as Cruz led off with a single and advanced to 3rd base on Vogelbach’s double. One batter later, Junior Lake brought home Cruz with a sacrifice fly to left field. Brandon Belt’s two-run home run in the bottom of the 2nd put the Giants in front, but their lead was short-lived.
After Ian Miller started the top of the 3rd with a walk, Gordon followed with a two-run home run to right field. Two outs later, Cruz and Vogelbach hit back-to-back home runs, marking the first time this spring the Mariners have hit consecutive home runs. The Mariners plated 4 runs in the top of the 3rd to take a 5-2 lead.
Vogelbach has reached base safely in 7 of his last 8 plate appearances, going 5-for-6 with 4 doubles, 1 home run and 2 walks during that span. He went 3-for-4 with 1 run, 2 doubles, 1 home run and 1 RBI today and is now batting .526 (10×19) with 4 runs, 5 doubles, 2 home run, 4 RBI and 6 walks in 8 games this spring.
San Francisco tallied 2 runs in the 4th to cut Seattle’s lead, 5-4. The Mariners extended their lead to 6-4 in the 5th on Gordon’s solo home run – his second of the game – but the Giants answered back with 2 runs in their half of the 5th and 1 run in the 6th to take a 7-6 lead.
Gordon is now batting .391 (9×23) with 7 runs, 1 double, 1 triple, 3 home runs and 6 RBI in 9 games this spring.
Seattle evened the score at 7-7 in the 7th inning as Robinson Canó led off the 7th with a double to left-center field, and pinch-runner Yonathan Mendoza later scored on a throwing error. San Francisco took the lead for good with a run in the 7th and 2 runs in the 8th.
James Paxton made his 3rd start of the spring, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out 4. After giving up a two-run home run in the bottom of the 2nd, Paxton bounced back to strike out the side in the 3rd, fanning Austin Jackson, Hunter Pence and Andrew McCutchen. He allowed the first two batters to reach base in the 4th before being lifted. James Pazos came on in relief of Paxton and allowed 2 hits, which allowed 2 inherited runners to score. Andrew Moore worked 2.0 innings, surrendering 3 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3. Johendi Jiminian allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2 in 1.2 innings pitched. Minor league call-up Bryan Bonnell retired the only batter he faced.
The Mariners (5-9-1) return to Cactus League action against the Cincinnati Reds at 6:05 p.m. MT/5:05 p.m. PT at Goodyear Ballpark. The game will be broadcast live in the Seattle area on 710 ESPN Seattle and the Mariners Radio Network. The broadcast can also be streamed live on Mariners.com. Left-hander Aríel Miranda is slated to start for the Mariners against Reds right-hander Sal Romano.