SEATTLE -- Brendan Donovan, meet the marine layer.
The Mariners’ new third baseman said Sunday’s 8-0 win over the Guardians was among the coldest games he’d ever played in, and those 43-degree temperatures at first pitch -- compounded by gusting winds and rain on the exterior of T-Mobile Park -- played into his approach at the plate.
But not exactly in the way you’d think.
Donovan crushed a three-run homer in the fourth inning off Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi that just barely cleared the right-field fence. Off the bat, it looked like it would be Seattle’s third deep flyout of the night, after Randy Arozarena and Josh Naylor saw two would-be homers die at the warning track.
Those types of deflating moments run rampant in this park at this time of year, making it all the more frustrating for newcomers. That was part of why Donovan considered not selling out for power in his consequential at-bat, but instead intended to ... bunt.
“But it was cold out there,” Donovan said before a pause that evoked laughs. “I'm looking where the third baseman was, and I was like, 'I'm not moving real fast today. I don't think anybody is, to be honest.' But he was in a spot where I didn't like it. So I was like, 'Let me just try to get on top of a heater, hit a low liner somewhere.'”
In a 1-1 count and against a fastball right in his wheelhouse, Donovan took an "A" hack and sent the 340-foot shot out on a line.
“I'm very conscious of my angles,” Donovan said. “I know if I hit a ball anywhere to the left of right-center, it's pretty much an out for me if it's in the air. So I'm very conscious of my angles, like low oppo and higher pull side. It’s something that I work on every day.”
It gave Emerson Hancock breathing room in the Mariners’ best pitching performance of the young season, because to that point, the Mariners were clinging to a 1-0 lead and had only just scored in the previous at-bat.
Yet from there, the offense rallied for four more runs without clearing the fence in their best showing since Opening Day.
And Donovan led the charge, reaching base four times -- twice via hit-by-pitch, along with a single and the homer. He also made an impressive backhanded play in the field, stabbing a grounder into foul territory then firing to first base for the third out in the second.
That came one day after he made a critical error in the 10th inning of a 6-5 loss, sailing a throw wide of first base -- afterward he said he didn’t have a good grip on the ball and instead should’ve pocketed it.
“With any new position, there's going to be some growing pains,” said Donovan, who transitioned full-time from second base this spring. “But I just try to play hard. I try to really prepare and just just play the game -- we've talked about it -- not playing scared, right? You can't play this game scared, and I understand that I'm going to make mistakes.”
Donovan has been viewed as the capstone piece to a lineup that didn’t have many holes. And Sunday was a continuation of why, on the heels of his Opening Day homer in his very first at-bat.
“His uniform is dirty every single night,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “That just shows you the type of player he is and just how much of a gamer he is.”
Longer term, Donovan will look to continue getting accustomed to a ballpark that hitters can hate. How he fares in April -- along with Naylor, for that matter, since he’s only been here since last July -- will be a storyline to follow.
But so far, it’s been off to a booming start -- through the marine layer.