56 minutes in the past
ANAHEIM — On an evening throughout which a number of Taylor Swift songs had been performed over the Angel Stadium sound system — a nod to the pop celebrity’s weeklong run of sold-out stadium reveals roughly 30 miles down the freeway in Inglewood — it was Mariners slugger Eugenio Suárez, starter Luis Castillo and reliever Matt Brash who proved that well timed base hits and strikeouts won’t ever exit of fashion.
Suárez’s single up the center within the eighth inning scored Julio Rodríguez to interrupt a tie, with Suárez taking part in the central position in dashing the Angels’ hopes of a come-from-behind victory. In doing so, Suárez set a Mariners franchise document with an RBI in his tenth consecutive recreation, passing Edgar Martinez’s streak of 9 such video games in 1995.
Cal Raleigh added an insurance coverage run with a solo homer within the ninth inning, which set the stage for a climactic backside of the body that wasn’t quick on drama.
After the primary two batters reached base, up stepped Shohei Ohtani with the house crowd’s wildest desires of an electrifying walk-off in sight. But Brash battled again, placing out Ohtani on a 98.2 mph fastball up within the zone and C.J. Cron on a slider earlier than retiring Mike Moustakas on a fly ball to left subject to seal the deal.
It was a resilient 9-7 victory by Seattle, which might clinch its fifth consecutive collection win by splitting the ultimate two video games this weekend. On an evening when supervisor Scott Servais mentioned he needed to be “a little bit more creative” with Andrés Muñoz unavailable, Brash got here by when referred to as upon to fill the clean area on the finish of the ’pen.
“That was Matt’s second career save, but that’s a real save,” mentioned Servais. “On the road, everybody’s on their feet, Ohtani’s at the plate, and he executed his pitches. Nice win.”
The salvaged an uncharacteristic outing from Castillo, who allowed seven earned runs for the primary time as a Mariner — and for the primary time in his profession since Aug. 9, 2021, with the Reds.
Servais elected to go away Castillo in to face Ohtani with the sport tied at 6 within the sixth, however Castillo persevered, capping his evening with a strikeout on a down-and-in slider.
It was a “stud inning,” in keeping with the skipper.
“You have to forget about what happened in the first five innings,” mentioned Servais. “To go out there and throw up a zero like that? Not many people can do that. There’s elite pitchers in this league who can do that, and he’s one of them.”
Castillo added that from his perspective, all that mattered in his showdown with Ohtani was the second — not what got here earlier than.
“My plan as soon as I got on that mound was, ‘You’re good. So am I.’ That was my mentality out there. We just battled it out, and the results speak for themselves,” mentioned Castillo by interpreter Freddy Llanos.
Servais spoke pregame of how his membership has maintained its place within the thick of the AL Wild Card hunt because of sturdy contributions from “a number of different guys that maybe you weren’t expecting to.” To that finish, Ty France staked Seattle to a fast 4-0 lead on Reid Detmers with a three-run homer within the first inning. It was France’s first house run since June 22, a span of 141 plate appearances.
Rodríguez, the Mariners’ cornerstone participant, has warmed up because the summer season has progressed, hitting .293 in July after posting a .238 common by June. Friday’s recreation in all probability wouldn’t have performed out because it did had been it not for Rodríguez’s 2-for-3 efficiency, most notably a key hustle double that set the stage for Suárez’s huge second.
As a results of Seattle’s scorching play, the clubhouse temper is “a lot of fun. I feel like we’re sticking together as a team,” Rodríguez mentioned. “We’re fighting for each other, we’re definitely enjoying it.”
For Suárez, breaking a document beforehand held by Mariners legend and Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez — “one of my favorite people in the world” — felt good, however he emphasised that even greater than making Seattle historical past was the context wherein he did it, in a victory, and with a cheering part rooting him on.
“I feel glad to do that in front of my family. My wife and daughter were there, so that was more important to me,” mentioned Suárez.
“He always comes in and puts in the work on the field, and it definitely shows on the field,” added Rodríguez. “I’m really proud of him, and we definitely need him on the team.”
