J.P. Crawford’s walk helped by a pitch-clock violation on James Karinchak sparked an eighth-inning rally that was capped by Ty France’s three-run homer, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 on Thursday night in Seattle.
Opening day was a dramatic pitchers’ duel between Cleveland ace Shane Bieber and Seattle’s Luis Castillo that lacked any offense until the wild eighth inning.
Crawford walked on a 3-2 pitch but only after being gifted a ball when Karinchak (0-1) committed the lone pitch-clock violation of the game with the count 0-2. Kolten Wong was hit by a pitch with one out and France went opposite field with a pitch out of the strike zone and cleared the wall down the right-field line.
France doubled off the wall in right-center earlier in the game and finished a triple short of the cycle.
Seattle reliever Andrés Muñoz ran into trouble in the ninth, giving up a single to Amed Rosario and a double to José Ramírez with two outs before getting Guardians newcomer Josh Bell to ground out for the save.
Until the eighth, pitching was the story for both teams looking to replicate their playoff runs from last season.
Castillo was dominant from the outset with another overpowering performance that fell in line with several spectacular starts last season after he was acquired from Cincinnati.
Castillo needed just 74 pitches to get through six innings and that ended up being his limit. He struck out six and the only runner he allowed came on an infield single that clipped the right-hander.
It was a scary moment at first as Will Brennan’s line drive struck the back of Castillo’s head, with most of the impact appearing to be absorbed by the pitcher’s dreadlocks.
Three relievers finished the four-hitter. Paul Sewald (1-0) worked a hitless eighth.
Despite constant traffic on the bases, Bieber kept Seattle off the scoreboard and matched Castillo with six shutout innings. Bieber scattered six hits and struck out three, and most importantly came up with key pitches with two outs and runners in scoring position.
Seattle threatened in the third, fifth and sixth against Bieber but was unable to get a two-out hit with a runner at third. France grounded out in the third and Julio Rodríguez hit a line drive that was run down by Brennan in right-center to end the fifth.
France doubled in the sixth — missing a home run by about a foot — but ended up stuck at third after Cal Raleigh popped out.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: INF Dylan Moore (oblique) remains in Arizona at the club’s spring training facility. Moore was placed on the injured list before the opener, but the team is hopeful he’ll be back by mid-April. … OF Taylor Trammell was also placed on the injured list. Trammell is still a few weeks from getting out on a rehab assignment.
NEXT UP
Guardians: RHP Hunter Gaddis made two starts last season and allowed 15 earned runs in 7 1/3 innings.
Mariners: LHP Robbie Ray threw 13 shutout innings against Cleveland last season in two starts.
— Tim Booth | AP Sports Writer