Mariners hit the road funning, win 4-2 in Anaheim
Homers on the road go far enough for the first of four.
Often, I feel like the Mariners will win. It’s a satisfying comfort, based on something merited in the aggregate over the past several years, but still far from certain. It’s a comfortable remove from the moment to moment, and I’d like to think it leaves me open to games otherwise untenable. Often, of course, the untenable does not become tenned, and for several laborious innings I felt annoyance at Logan Evans.
The rookie righty seemed determine to make a mountain out of an Anaheim opponent that wasn’t really trying to make a fuss. Three ball counts and free passes made the early innings a slog, and a first inning run seemed a gift to lack an ‘s’ at its end. And yet, at the end of 79 pitches, the tally was the same. Three walks, yes, and three hits too, plus a plunking of Zach Neto for good measure and a barrage of warning track snacks for Julio Rodríguez to gobble up. But just “run,” not runs, and by that point a lead he’d see carried shakily to its conclusion.
That lead was built by a bit of body swapping, as Julio blasted a solo shot while Cal chipped in an infield single. Randy, for his part, swapped his belt but not his gains. A blistered, scorching, infernal, extremely impressive home run on one of the lowest trajectories you’ll see from a Mariner all year made it 3-1.
On a day where Angels mandatory All-Star Yusei Kikuchi had his good breaking balls, and southpaw reliever put on a peacocking performance for the ages (complimentary, frankly), it was good to see Seattle run the starter early once again, and set up the Angels for a highly taxed bullpen for the next three games. The bullpen battle didn’t entirely favor Seattle, however, as a sloppy outing from Carlos Vargas created a near-disaster, but Gabe Speier and Matt Brash sailed in on the wings of, well, something positive but not heavenly.
Jorge Polanco got in on the action late for a solo shot as well, thickening the fascinating roster shuffle Seattle will have tomorrow when Josh Naylor arrives. That insurance run loomed large as Andrés Muñoz tiptoed the abyss himself, setting the table loaded for Nolan Schanuel with two outs. The hyper-aggressive youngster swung early, as he does often. Randy dashed in, dropping to a crouch in homage to Raleigh, whose spirit may have possessed him after all. Three outs, gleeful whoops and laughter from Julio, sighs of relief from Muñoz and a few million of his closest friends in a 4-2 victory.