SEATTLE -- In need of a pick-me-up after a tough weekend at the plate, the Mariners rode a big homer from Dominic Canzone and a spurt of Chaos Ball en route to a 5-4 win over the Guardians on Monday night, paving the way for a clean and comfortable outing for Emerson Hancock as he stepped into the No. 5 spot in Seattle¡¯s rotation.

Julio Rodríguez had two remarkable catches -- one going back at the warning track and another in the gap running in -- and he nearly had a third at the wall going for a ball that caromed off his glove and went for a homer. The latter ultimately ended Hancock¡¯s night in an otherwise superb outing at T-Mobile Park.

¡°It starts with pitching with us, and we¡¯re really excited for Emerson Hancock,¡± Mariners manager Scott Servais said. ¡°That's his first Major League win tonight, and he earned it -- against a team that's been swinging the bat really well.¡±

Hancock, who assumed the rotation¡¯s final spot when Bryan Woo suffered right elbow inflammation last week, showed no jitters despite pitching on a platform where plenty might persist. Beyond the homer, he surrendered two additional runs, including one that might not have manifested had it not been for an overturned challenge that turned a groundout into a hit-by-pitch.

That third-inning sequence, which saw Ram¨®n Laureano take a sinker off his knuckles halfway through a swing, led to Seattle¡¯s first ejection of the season, with Dylan Moore being removed from the game by first-base umpire Adam Hamari while in the home dugout.

The play was initially ruled a groundout to Hancock, but after a challenge from Guardians manager Stephen Vogt -- who last year was the Mariners¡¯ bullpen coach -- it was ruled a HBP.

The explainer was that, during the action, home-plate umpire Mark Ripperger appealed for a check-swing to Hamari, who ruled that there wasn¡¯t one. That then led the Mariners¡¯ dugout, along the first-base line and within earshot of Hamari, to question how a ball in play that was initially ruled a groundout manifest without a swing at all.

¡°Guys are fired up, it was a crazy call,¡± Servais said. ¡°The check-swing, obviously to hit a ball that rolls that far back to the pitcher, you had to have swung, but the umpire saw it differently.¡±

Immediately after, Hancock surrendered consecutive singles, a run-scoring forceout to Steven Kwan, a sacrifice fly to Andr¨¦s Gim¨¦nez and another single to Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez before escaping the jam. He wound up pitching 5 1/3 innings, beyond the threshold that Servais had hoped.

Though Hancock has been in the organization since being taken with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 Draft, Monday marked just his fourth MLB start. Injuries -- the latest a season-ending right shoulder strain last August -- have largely defined his career.

But he was among the more promising storylines in Spring Training, and filling in for Woo -- who began playing catch on Monday -- will be vital, especially this early.

¡°It kind of felt like a debut all over again,¡± Hancock said. ¡°Just the pregame, just the hype of how excited I was to get back out there.¡±

Canzone was another spring standout, but he¡¯s been seeking his timing after going 0-for-8 in the season-opening series. The positive was that he ambushed a 1-1 fastball from Triston McKenzie up and away and sent it 411 feet to left-center for a three-run shot in the second. But he also struck out twice more on offspeed pitches, to bring his season total to six punchouts in 12 plate appearances.

¡°Just kind of trying to get back on track, being a little bit more aggressive and just getting my swing off,¡± Canzone said. ¡°Driving the ball that way, that's something that we work on and it's something that we worked on pregame so it's just nice to get a result out of it.¡±

The Mariners added another key run in the fourth when Luis Ur¨ªas drew a bases-loaded walk, after Cal Raleigh ripped a 108.6 mph single, Ty France lined one over Ramirez¡¯s head and Canzone reached on a fielding error by first baseman Josh Naylor -- a sequence tying back to Seattle¡¯s efforts of making better swing decisions and getting the ball in play.

However, one decision they¡¯d like to have back was Rodr¨ªguez running through a stop sign from third-base coach Manny Acta in the eighth, though a 1-2-3 ninth from Ryne Stanek for his first save as a Mariner wound up overcoming that mistake.