ANAHEIM, Calif. — The last time the Seattle Mariners were in Angels Stadium they walked off the field in a stunned malaise, having blown a six-run lead in the bottom of the ninth to lose to the Angels in walk-off fashion. It was a gut punch of a loss and still one of the worst of the season.
On Friday, they made sure there would be no repeat meltdowns, taking an even larger, almost insurmountable lead into the ninth inning, and closing out a decisive 10-0 win.
Ariel Miranda gave the Mariners an outstanding start on the mound and the Seattle offense that looked somewhat dormant during the now-snapped, four-game losing streak to end the recent homestand came to life against the Angels pitching staff and their starter, Parker Bridwell. The Mariners banged out 17 hits and four homers in the game. Of the Mariners starting lineup, eight of the nine players registered a hit, with four players having multihit games.
Robinson Cano had three hits, including a three-run homer off Bridwell in the fifth inning to break the game open and later a two-run homer off reliever Yusmeiro Petit in the seventh. Cano had a first-inning single and probably should have had a third-inning double if not for a nice catch at the wall in left field by Eric Young Jr.
Ben Gamel went 4 for 5 with two runs scored and two runs batted in. In June, Gamel collected 42 hits in 107 at-bats for a .393 average.
Kyle Seager also had four hits and belted his 10th homer of the season in the ninth inning. It was the second straight game with a homer for Seager.
After two lackluster outings in his past three starts, Miranda was brilliant Friday night. With his offspeed pitches working early, he kept the Angels’ hitters off-balance by using a deft mix to go with a fastball that consistently got in on the hands of right-handed hitters. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning and allowed just one more over his seven shutout innings, striking out four batters and walking two.
Perhaps Miranda’s biggest inning came in the bottom of the fifth after Cano’s three-run homer had given him a 5-0 lead. A follow-up shutdown inning after such outbursts is usually critical in putting teams away. It didn’t start out well with Andrelton Simmons doubling to right-center to start it off and then advancing to third on a ground ball to second. But Miranda got Danny Espinosa to pop out and Young to fly out to right to end the frame. Miranda rolled up two more 1-2-3 innings to close out his start.
Seattle grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Mike Zunino—the team’s best hitter in June—blasted a solo homer to left field. For Zunino, he wrapped up June with 10 homers and 31 RBI in 24 games played. The 31 RBI are the most by any player in baseball this month. Zunino had a chance to tie the franchise record of 33 RBI in a month in the eighth inning. With runners on second and third, his line drive down the third-base line was snared by Yunel Escobar to rob him of that chance.
Max Povse pitched the final two innings to preserve the shutout. He got some help from backup shortstop Taylor Motter, who made a brilliant backhand and leaping throw to first on Jefry Marte’s ground ball into the hole for the final out of the game with runners on second and third.
