TUCSON, Ariz. — The anticipated spring pitching matchup of Seattle ace Cliff Lee and his Arizona counterpart Dan Haren ended abruptly when Lee was tossed from the game for allegedly throwing at the Diamondbacks’ Chris Snyder.
The blowup came with two outs in the third inning of Arizona’s 13-5 victory on Monday when Lee threw one pitch inside, then another that zipped just over Snyder’s head.
Snyder walked toward the mound, then the dugouts and bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown.
Lee, acquired in a big offseason trade with Philadelphia, says he was just trying to throw inside when a couple of pitches got away from him.
In the first inning, Snyder and Lee collided when the Mariners’ left-hander was backing up a play at home plate.
Haren gave up a run and four hits in four innings, fanning three and walking two. Arizona’s Chris Young went 2 for 3 with four RBIs, including a three-run homer.
The second-inning fracas overshadowed a solid if not spectacular performance by Haren, the Diamondbacks’ opening day starter.
“I was tired there at the end but that’s to be expected,” Haren said. “I worked my way out of a couple of jams the first couple of innings and loaded them up in the last, but all in all it was probably good to work on those situations, kind of minimizing the damage and stuff.”
He loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth but only one run scored — on Dustin Ackley’s sacrifice fly. Rob Johnson flew out to center and Jack Wilson grounded out to end the inning.
Mike Sweeney kept up that phenomenal hitting that could earn him a spot on the Mariners’ opening day roster. As the designated hitter, he went 3 for 4 with a double, a performance that actually dropped his spring batting average to .765 (13 for 17).
Shawn Kelley relieved Lee and had a rough outing, allowing four runs and six hits in 1 1-3 innings. He failed to get an out in the fifth, leaving the game after Young’s second home run of the spring, followed by a single by Snyder, who had two hits and an RBI.
Arizona’s Adam LaRoche was 3 for 3 with two RBIs and scored twice.
Young, trying to rebound from an awful season that included a stint at Triple-A Reno, was 2 for 3 and is batting .346 this spring.
The Diamondbacks pounded out 19 hits and got scoreless one-inning performances from relievers Clay Zavada and Juan Gutierrez.
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