Great finish to a great Spring Training

With just 2 days before the first pitch is thrown the Mariners took a trip to Salt Lake City for their Spring Training finale. The Colorado Rockies were their final opponent and Brandon Maurer took the mound for the final game while the Rockies sent Jeff Francis out to the mound. During the first 3 innings, then Kendrys Morales came up in the top of the 4th with 1 out took Francis deep to put the M's up 1-0 and hitting the 57th HR of the spring for the team. After that the Rockies took Maurer deep twice, first Troy Tulowitzki and then Todd Helton. The Mariners wouldn't be down for very long as Justin Smoak hit a line drive home run to tie the game. Smoak's HR would be the last one of the spring for the M's to put the Mariners at 58 for the spring. The only other team to hit more homers was the 1999 Chicago Cubs who hit 62.

Tom Wilhelmsen came into the 5th and that was it for Maurer. Wilhelmsen had an easy inning only giving up 1 hit. Oliver Perez came into the 6th and had a 1-2-3 inning as well as Stephen Pryor. In the top of the 8th the Mariners broke the game open; after Mike Zunino's single that moved Jason Bay to third Raul Ibanez drove in Bay with a sacrafice fly, then Brad Miller drove in Zunino with a double putting the M's lead to 4-2. The Rockies got a run back in the bottom half of the inning as Danny Farquhar had another tough outing. In the top of the 9th invitee Brain Sweeney came in and shut the door on the Rockies and secured the M's 22nd franchise record win.

Spring Training is over and the Mariners have shown us that they are ready for the season to begin. Before Monday fans will know if either Casper Wells or Jason Bay will have made the cut. Wells finished the spring with a .189 batting average, 2 HRs, and 14 RBIs while Bay has finished with a .321 batting average, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, and 17 hits. Whoever manager Eric Wedge chooses one of them will make a great contribution to the Mariners this season. The M's hit a franchise record 58 homeruns and won another franchise record 22 wins, Mike Morse broke the franchise record for HRs with 9 and drove in 15 runs as well. The spring also showed us the future that is waiting to play for this franchise such as Brad Miller, Stefen Romero, Mike Zunino, James Paxton, Taijuan Walker, John Hicks, and much more young guns that are ready for another minor league year to impress the Mariners and telling them they are ready for "The Show".