Mariners score three in 10th to beat Angels 5-2
ANAHEIM, Calif. – A three-run 10th inning can cure a lot of things.
Just when the chill seemed to return Friday night throughout the Mariners’ lineup, they struck for three runs in the 10th inning and opened their weekend with a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Franklin Gutierrez delivered a tie-breaking pinch single against reliever Jose Alvarez that scored Ketel Marte from second base. Marte opened the inning with a single and went to second on Nori Aoki’s sacrifice.
Nelson Cruz added a two-run homer which provided closer Steve Cishek with a three-run cushion. Cishek responded with his fourth save.
The late punch followed Thursday’s 10-7 victory in Cleveland when Robinson Cano hit a three-run homer in the 10th.
Friday’s three-run rally rewarded Joel Peralta with a victory after retiring the heart of the Angels’ order in the ninth inning. It was also the Mariners’ sixth victory in eight games and lifted them back to .500 at 8-8.
It started well.
The Mariners struck for two runs in the first inning against starter Nick Tropeano after loading the bases with no outs on a double by Aoki, a walk to Seth Smith and a single by Cano.
Cruz’s sacrifice fly made it 1-0 before a walk to Kyle Seager reloaded the bases with one out. Adam Lind’s sacrifice fly added a second run.
The attack then went into a shell. So it was up to Hisashi Iwakuma to make the two runs stand up. He couldn’t quite do it.
Iwakuma started a day ahead of schedule as a replacement for an ailing Felix Hernandez and held the Angels to two runs in eight innings. He yielded homers in the fourth to Kole Calhoun and in the fifth to C.J. Cron.
L.A. threaten in its first when its first two hitters, after falling behind 0-2 in the count, reached on singles. Iwakuma escaped by retiring Mike Trout on a fly to left and through a double play on a Albert Pujols grounder.
Another Pujols double-play grounder erased Trout after a leadoff single in the fourth, but Iwakuma then hung a first-pitch curve that Calhoun drove into the right-field seats.
Cron’s leadoff homer in the fifth pulled the Angels even at 2-2 – and he got all of it: 426 feet to straight-away center field.
Play of the game
The Mariners turned a double play in the first inning that bailed out Iwakuma. Los Angeles had runners at first and second with one out when Pujols hit a hard grounder up the middle.
Second baseman Cano made a nice stop behind the base and flipped to shortstop Marte, who rushed the throw to first – but Adam Lind held the base long enough to complete the double play.
Plus
Iwakuma had his best start of the season in limiting the Angels to two runs in eight innings. … Marte had two hits…Lind continues to show life at the plate, although his power remains absent. He had two singles and a sacrifice fly in four plate appearances. … Peralta protected a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning by retiring Trout, Pujols and Calhous.
Minus
Lind tried to stretch a leadoff single into a double in the ninth inning. He was thrown out by left fielder Rafael Ortega. … Aoki nearly got picked off first in the second inning by Tropeano – and then did get picked off. … It was a minus for the Mariners when Angels third baseman Yunel Escobar made spectacular diving catch at the line on Cruz’s one-out liner in the eighth inning.