Today’s split-squad games were mostly close contests, signaling the end of Spring Training Silliness as the starters played deep into games. The away game against the Royals got out of control late, when Trent Thornton couldn’t complete his inning and prospect Juan Burgos wound up giving up a three-run difference-maker, only for the Mariners to almost storm back in a ninth-inning comeback, but mostly these games were marked by back-and-forth lead changes.
Home game: Mariners 3, Reds 5
The game started out with dueling solo homers: leadoff man Victor Robles pounced on the first pitch he saw from Reds starter Hunter Greene, and then Gavin Lux answered right back, jumping on a first-pitch fastball from Logan Gilbert.