Things I overheard on today’s broadcast: “If you win the Cactus League Championship, you get paper rings or something.”

This is big news. The Mariners have something to fight for now. Cactus League Championship, here we come!

As wins go, today’s was more exciting than most. It may have had you sitting on the edge of your seat, or relatively close to the edge of your seat. The Mariners and Brewers had a tie game going into the 9th inning, 2-2 thanks to RBIs from Michael Saunders and Justin Smoak, an RBI single from Alex Gonzalez, and Travis Ishikawa’s home run.

Hector Noesi pitched 3.0 innings, allowing three hits, one walk, and one earned run. The win, however, went to reliever Sean Henn, who kept a scoreless 8th with two walks and one strikeout.

So far in Spring Training, the Mariners haven’t made a habit of spreading out their runs. They take a run or two in early innings, and then let loose in the last third of the game. Today, they left us hanging until the 9th.

Mike Wilson, Justin Smoak, and Jesus Sucre loaded the bases for Carlos Peguero. With no outs and almost guaranteed runs just waiting for a hack down the foul line, Peguero swung his bat and… struck out swinging. Thankfully, Alex Liddi drove in the tie-breaking run with a line drive to center field, Michael Saunders hit a 2-run double (his second of the day), and Dustin Ackley followed with another RBI double to put the Mariners ahead 7-4.

Sure, a 5-run inning may sound a little excessive, but it was welcome insurance when George Kottaras whacked a 2-run homer off Josh Kinney in the bottom of the 9th. Don’t feel too bad for Milwaukee, though—it’s the top of the 9th and Oakland is only leading them by two runs. I’m sure they’ll bounce back.

Next game: vs Royals | March 14 | 7:05pm