Inside The Mariners

Seattle Mariners Fail to Hold on in Back-And-Forth, 5-4 Loss to Los Angeles Angels

The Mariners had multiple leads but couldn't hold on in the first game of a road trip against the Angels.
Teren Kowatsch|
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Chris Taylor (33) steals second during a game against the Seattle Mariners on June 6 at Angel Stadium.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Chris Taylor (33) steals second during a game against the Seattle Mariners on June 6 at Angel Stadium. | Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

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The Seattle Mariners' struggles continued in the first of a six-game road trip against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday at Angel Stadium. The Mariners fell to 32-30 with a 5-4 loss. It was their fourth consecutive loss, which tied a season-worst. Seattle fell 2.5 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West after the defeat.

"Another tough one tonight. Another one-run affair," M's manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview. "Thought, offensively, we did some good stuff. Especially early. ... Obviously they answered back each time and we just weren't able to hold them in the end."

The Mariners started with the advantage over their AL West rivals. J.P. Crawford continued his recent solid stretch with an RBI single in the top of the third to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.

Crawford's hit ended up being just the first punch thrown in a back-and-forth affair. The Angels tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the third after shortstop Zach Neto hit an RBI single.

The Mariners set themselves up well in the top of the fourth and loaded the bases with no outs. Rowdy Tellez brought home Julio Rodriguez with an RBI sacrifice fly, and Cal Raleigh scored the next at-bat on a groundout hit by Leody Taveras. Seattle led 3-1 after the top of the fourth.

Los Angeles catcher Travis d'Arnaud hit a two-run homer in the home half of the fourth to bring everything back even at 3-3.

Julio Rodriguez accounted for Seattle's last run of the game in the top of the fifth. He hit an RBI triple to score Ben Williamson and give the Mariners a 4-3 lead. Rodriguez and Williamson were Seattle's only players with multiple hits Friday. Rodriguez finished 2-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and a run. Williamson finished 2-for-3 with two runs and a double. Williamson and Rodriguez both had a steal.

The Angels responded again, this time for good, in the bottom of the fifth. Chris Taylor hit an RBI double to tie the game 4-4 and Nolan Schanuel hit an RBI single for the eventual final of 5-4.

Los Angeles was able to take advantage of a poor night from Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller.

In just his second start back from a near-three-week stint on the injured list, Miller fanned two, walked one, hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and allowed five earned runs on six hits (one home run).

Seattle got one runner on base in both the sixth and eighth innings, respectively, but couldn't move them over. The M's finished 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded six.

"I think a lot of positive can be drawn from the offense tonight," Wilson said. "Being able to draw some walks, put pressure on the defense and get some hits with runners in scoring position, some of the little things that we do we were able to get done tonight offensively and that's a good sign. ... We were still putting up good at-bats (after the fifth), just weren't able to get the runners on-base and press them as much. And give some credit to their bullpen a little bit. Definitely much more optimism in terms of the offense, and what we saw tonight was more what we did (early in the season)."

The Mariners will try to snap their skid in Game 2 of the series against the Angels at 6:38 p.m. PT on Saturday. Luis Castillo will start for Seattle and Jack Kochanowicz will start for Los Angeles.

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Teren Kowatsch
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