Mariners sink Brewers, 5-4

The Brewers saw some notable returns from injuries in Sunday’s game against the Brewers. Luis Urías made his first appearance after a little hamstring strain took him out of the lineup for about 10 days. The battle for short will continue and the audition at short will continue for Urías. Expect to see a lot of him at short in the coming days. Today, Urías went 0-3, left 2 runnings in scoring position, and had few opportunities to make notable defensive plays. Jacob Nottingham, though not ready to catch in-game situations yet, made some appearances at the plate, he went 1-3, smacking a home run off the center field batters eye in his final at-bat in the top of the 7th inning.

Adrian Houser’s groundball-inducing A-game today was on full display in the first two innings. He went three up and three down through two, at which point, he’d recorded 4 groundouts and a strikeout. Something changed in the third inning, though. He walked two before exiting the game with what was later identified as right thumb discomfort. Leo Crawford entered the game and walked another batter to load the bases. Ty France flew out to right field to end the ending and leave the Mariners scoreless and hitless through the third, albeit with plenty of basepath traffic.

The Brewers put together a very nice offensive fourth inning, where a number of players who have been having a good spring competing for a roster spot continued to impress and manufacture runs. Travis Shaw showed good discipline and plenty of chill at the plate to draw a walk, which might indicate that the Brewers will reveal a major league roster spot for Shaw tomorrow. Daniel Robertson reached first on a forceout that got Travis Shaw at second. Tyrone Taylor doubled to advance Robertson to third. Next, came a three-run double, hit sharply down the left field line and into the corner by Zach Green. Dylan Cozens joined the rally with a single to advance Green to third before Jacob Nottingham struck out in his second at bat after returning from injury.

At some point on the basepaths, Derek Fisher sustained what appears to hamstring discomfort. As Luis Urías took 10 days to return from the same minor ailment, it’s likely an unfortunate setback for Fisher, who is out of options and in contention for a roster spot. Garrett Mitchell took over for him in left field

Jordan Zimmermann allowed a hit and a walk, but also struck out a batter and put up a scoreless inning. It was good to see from Zimmermann, who has been hit around a bit for a 9.00 ERA across a small sample size of four innings.

Brad Boxberger, on the other hand, replaced Zimmerman at the mound and struggled mightily in his fifth and only inning. He allowed 5 hits, including a home run, and was charged with all 5 of the runs the Mariners scored across 0.2 innings before Miguel Sánchez came into the game to replace him. Sánchez gave up a single that was not hit well but fell into the gap just ahead of Corey Ray to score Braden Bishop from third. Sánchez came back in the sixth to regain control of the defense with a three up, three down inning. Angel Perdomo took the mound for Miguel Sanchez and looked solid facing three batters. He struck out two and picked off Braden Bishop, who he previously walked.

In the Brewer half of the sixth, Garrett Mitchell displayed his outstanding speed to beat out what would be a routine groundout for all but the fastest in the league. After successfully legging out the single Mitchell displayed what was either inexperience or inattention on major league basepaths. He got caught stealing second, sliding too little and too late to beat out a throw he didn’t seem to expect from catcher Josh Morgan.

After striking out twice, Jacob Nottingham crushed a home run off the center field batter’s eye in the seventh inning. You love to see it! Let’s watch that again:

Nottingham’s blast brought the Brewers within one run, but not before they ran out of Cactus League and fell to the Mariners, 5-4.

The Brewers return to Cactus League action tomorrow, taking on the San Diego Padres at 3:10 CT at American Family Fields of Phoenix.