PEORIA, Ariz. – Mike Leake blanked the Kansas City Royals over 3.0 innings pitched and Kyle Seager and Robinson Canó each recorded 2 hits, but the Mariners came up short to the Royals, 4-3, in front of a crowd of 4,795 on Thursday afternoon at Peoria Stadium.
Seattle struck first with 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning. Nelson Cruz led off with a walk and Seager followed with a single to right field. With runners on the corners and one out, Kirk Nieuwenhuis drove an RBI-single to right field. Matt Hague followed with his own RBI-single over the head of the 1st baseman. Ian Miller brought home the final run of the inning on an RBI-fielder’s choice, as the Mariners took a 3-0 lead over the Royals.
Seager finished 2-for-3 with 1 run and is now batting .636 (7×11) with 2 runs, 1 double and 1 RBI in 4 games this spring.
The Royals scored a run in the 5th on an RBI-fielder’s choice and added two runs in the 8th on a two-run home run off the bat of Jorge Soler. Kansas City took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 9th on an RBI-single.
In his second start of the spring, Leake tossed 3.0 scoreless innings, scattering 3 hits and striking out 4. Leake has totaled 5.0 scoreless innings in Cactus League action this season and has allowed only 4 hits. Casey Lawrence came on in relief of Leake and allowed 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 2 in 3.0 innings of work. Chase De Jong tossed 2.0 innings and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits (1 home run) while striking out 1. Chasen Bradford was charged with the loss, allowing 1 run on 2 hits in the 9th inning.
The Mariners (2-5-1) return to Cactus League action tomorrow (Friday, March 2) against the Milwaukee Brewers at 12:05 p.m. PT/1:05 p.m. MT at Maryvale Baseball Park. The game will be broadcast (delayed) in the Seattle area on 710 ESPN Seattle and the Mariners Radio Network. The broadcast can be streamed live on Mariners.com. Left-hander Marco Gonzales is slated to start for the Mariners against Brewers right-hander Junior Guerra.
