The Mariners (6-1) won their sixth consecutive Cactus League game Thursday, defeating the San Francisco Giants 4-3 in front of 7,213 fans at Scottsdale Stadium. The streak is the club’s longest since the 2004 Mariners also ran off six in a row.
Nick Franklin (first) and Franklin Gutierrez (second) homered, giving the Mariners 14 home runs, most in baseball (Cactus or Grapefruit leagues).
Seattle tallied a pair of runs in the second inning on a Jesus Montero double, an Alex Liddi sacrifice fly and a solo homer from Franklin. The Mariners added single runs in the third (back-to-back doubles from Casper Wells and Justin Smoak) and fifth (solo HR by Gutierrez). Smoak was 2-for-3 and is hitting .583 (7-for-12) this spring.
Seattle starter Jon Garland (1-0) made his spring debut, and his first appearance since June 1, 2011. Garland missed all of the 2012 season recovering from an injury. He allowed one hit and one walk in one inning. Blake Beavan (3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 SO) and Erasmo Ramirez (2.0 IP, 2 H, SO) followed. Tom Wilhelmsen (1.0 IP, 2 SO), Carter Capps (1.0 IP, 2 H, 3 SO) and Yoervis Medina (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R; SV #1) closed out.
Capps allowed back-to-back hits to open the eighth, but came back with three consecutive strikeouts to strand the tying run. Medina retired the first two batters in the ninth, before a seeing-eye grounder and a two-strike double put the tying run on second. Medina retired the next batter on a fly to center to end the game.
The Mariners return to Peoria Stadium after three road games to host the Texas Rangers Friday. The game will be broadcast in the Seattle area on 710 ESPN and the Mariners Radio Network. It is also available live online via Mariners.com (subscription required).
Left-handed pitcher James Paxton is scheduled to start against Rangers right-hander Randy Wells.
