Gurriel Jr. steals home in a tie
Diamondbacks 3, Mariners 3
At Salt River Fields, Friday, March 22 At the plate: 2B Ketel Marte hit a solo home run to right field, two at-bats after shattering his bat on a ground ball to first base. It happened in the bottom of the sixth inning right after Seattle made a pitching change, and Marte has at least a hit in 15 of 16 spring training games. RF Corbin Carroll, facing his hometown team, singled in a run in the third inning. ... The Diamondbacks executed a double steal in the sixth with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stealing home and Christian Walker getting to second base safely. “We identified that was a good situation for it, worked out, it worked out really well,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “There’s a reason for it, there are some identifiable things, and then you’ve got to be able to execute it. And both runners executed perfectly. So they’re not the fastest guys in the world. But there’s technique and form and trust in both guys.”
On the mound: RHP Ryne Nelson, likely in the starting rotation when the regular season starts, pitched five innings of one-run baseball, continuing his strong spring. He struck out nine and walked two, allowing a run on a solo homer in the top of the fifth inning as part of the five hits Nelson surrendered. “I worked ahead a lot and that was one of my main focuses from last outing. I went back and watched (his last start) I was 2-1 a lot, 2-0, didn’t really threw a bunch of first pitch strikes,” Nelson said. “So that was my big focus and it makes it easier to kind of dip into the bag of tricks when you’re working ahead. And I felt like I kept them off balance and had some good stuff.” ... LHP Kyle Nelson and RHPs Ryan Thompson and Scott McGough worked scoreless innings (one each).
Extra bases: The Diamondbacks made some roster moves Friday, optioning LHP Andrew Saalfrank and OF Pavin Smith to Triple-A Reno. LHP Jose Castillo was reassigned to minor league camp and veteran IF Elvis Andrus was released. “My message to him was, continue doing what you do best, play on both sides of the ball and improve as a first baseman, improve as an outfielder and get your butt back to the big leagues by making statements,” Lovullo said of Smith . ... Andrus was told he would not make the team. Lovullo said the club hopes Andrus finds a major league job elsewhere and would otherwise be welcomed back on another minor league deal . ... Saalfrank was sent down with the edict of throwing more strikes and getting ahead in counts more often.
Next games, Saturday, March 23: Diamondbacks (split squad) RHP Zac Gallen vs. Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee, 1:10 p.m., Salt River Fields; Diamondbacks (split squad) LHP Logan Allen vs. Giants LHP Kyle Harrison, 1:05 p.m., Scottsdale Stadium.