Rowdy Tellez makes strong case for Opening Day roster spot as Mariners defeat the Reds, 8-3
Bryce Miller strikes out seven in five innings
Today was Rowdy Tellez’s 30th birthday - complete with a giant graphic of his head with birthday wishes on the video board where the lineup is usually posted - and he celebrated with a three-hit day that strengthened his case for an Opening Day roster spot.
Bryce Miller was sizzling from the start in this game, showing off a fastball the broadcast called 98; it was 97.7 per Statcast, but Matt McClain chased after the pitch at the top of the zone anyway. Miller capped off his strong first inning by striking out Elly De La Cruz on a foul tip at 97.4 at the top of the zone again.
The Reds got their one and only run off Miller in the second, when Gavin Lux doubled on a splitter to left field and then stole third base and scored on an errant throw from catcher Harry Ford. To make his batterymate feel better, Miller opened the third inning by overthrowing first on a bunt off the bat of Blake Dunn, allowing Dunn to take second. But that was as far as a Reds hitter would advance against Miller for the rest of his outing, as he set down the rest of the Reds’ lineup over five innings, collecting seven strikeouts, six swinging.
But Brady Singer was equally dominant. The new Red, traded from Kansas City for Jonathan India this off-season, had the Mariners on their heels, striking out five hitters over the first five innings. Dominic Canzone finally got to Singer in the fifth, leading off with a 102.9 mph opposite-field homer. Canzone has been hitting the ball hard this spring, which is nice to see. Also nice to see: the Mariners getting some traffic on behind Canzone, as Miles Mastrobuoni hit his second single of the day, and Harry Ford walked, knocking Singer out of the game. Nothing came of it runs-wise, but keeping the pressure on is something the team hasn’t always done this spring.
The Mariners were able to finally go ahead in the sixth. After grounding into a double play in the first and striking out in the fourth, Tellez, hitting third, opened the sixth with a singe off Taylor Rogers, and once again, the Mariners manufactured traffic on the bases, getting Rowdy station-to-station around the bases until he scored thanks to a single from Mitch Garver, a forceout from Canzone, and a single from Leo Rivas. Small ball!
The ball got a little bigger in the seventh, when Spencer Packard and Jack López both worked walks off Ian Gibaut and Tellez came up with his second hit of the day, singling on a fly ball to load the bases for Austin Shenton, who hit a two-run single to make it 4-1.
The “A” bullpen pitchers all posted scoreless innings: Tayler Saucedo walked Elly De La Cruz but saw no other damage, and Andrés Muñoz also walked a hitter hit 99 multiple times with his fastball, topping out at 96.6 mph. He must have had a very good breakfast. Trent Thornton had a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout on his slider. The Reds were able to get to 2024 draftee Charlie Beilenson for a couple garbage-time runs on back-to-back homers, but by that point the Mariners had already gone out to an 8-1 lead, thanks to a solo home run from Tellez (a birthday bomb!) and a two-run double off the bat of Rhylan Thomas to make it 6-1. Blake Hunt and Spencer Packard each chipped in RBI singles for a final of 8-1.