Angels edge Mariners

SEATTLE – The two Angels’ hitters with the most success against Felix Hernandez in the past were able to continue it in the present and put a damper on his quest for 20 wins and the Seattle Mariners’ victory hopes on Tuesday night.

David Murphy and Mike Trout each hit home runs off Hernandez – giving them four each in their career off the Mariners’ ace – and that’s all the offense the Angels would need in a 4-3 win over Seattle at a sparsely populated Safeco Field.

Meanwhile an early base-running miscue cost the Mariners a run, that might have been useful late.

Trout – .344 batting average (21 for 61) – and Murphy – .296 batting average (24 for 81) came into the game having hit Hernandez well in the past, so it wasn’t a complete fluke.

Hernandez fell to 17-9 on the season after working seven innings, giving up the four runs on five hits with three walks, five strikeouts and a hit batter. Hernandez will likely get three more chances to get the three wins needed for the elusive 20-win plateau.

He didn’t pitch poorly, and the two homers were probably the two hardest-hit balls he allowed all night. But it was enough to beat him.

The Mariners picked up a 1-0 lead against Angels’ starter Nick Tropeano in the first inning. Nelson Cruz crushed a 0-1 slider, sending a line drive over the wall in center field for his 42nd home run of the season – tied for the most in all of baseball. MLB Statcast measured the home run at 436 feet with an exit speed off the bat of 113 mph.

Should it have been a two-run homer though?

Ketel Marte led off the game with a single to center. While on first base, he attempted a steal of second on the first pitch to Cruz. He was thrown out in a close play. But getting thrown out with Cruz at the plate is suboptimal.

Cruz had to settle for the solo shot.

Seattle was able to cut the deficit to one run in the unlikeliest of scenarios-Seth Smith scoring from first base on a Franklin Gutierrez single to left field.

The Mariners made it a one-run game in the seventh inning. Gutierrez crushed a solo homer to left field off reliever Fernando Salas. Gutierrez’s 13th homer of the season cut the lead to 4-3. But the M’s couldn’t score in the eighth or ninth, despite putting a runner on base in each.