The Los Angeles Angels jumped out early in Seattle, but the game slipped away fast once their bats quieted and the Mariners started cashing in. By the end of a 6-2 loss to open the series, the Angels had given away momentum with missed chances in the field and just enough offense from Seattle to make the first inning and a half feel like a distant memory.
Zach Neto set the tone right away with a leadoff double, and Denzer Guzman kept the inning moving by hammering a ground ball that got past Josh Naylor at first base, bringing Neto home for a 1-0 Angels lead. Neto then added to it in the top of the third, launching a solo home run that pushed Los Angeles ahead 2-0 and gave the impression the Angels might have something going.
That was it for the offense.
Seattle answered in the bottom of the third when Cole Taylor hit a solo homer to trim the margin to 2-1, and the real trouble arrived in the fourth. Guzman missed a ground ball at third base that should have ended the inning, but instead the error loaded the bases for Cal Raleigh. Raleigh followed with a two-run RBI single, scoring unearned runs and flipping the game to a 3-2 Mariners lead.
From there, Seattle kept piling on. In the bottom of the sixth, the Mariners added three more runs with two home runs, including Young’s second blast of the night, to stretch the lead to the final 6-2 margin.
Ryan Johnson got another turn in the Angels’ rotation mix, and while the fourth-inning error complicated his outing, his line was still workable: four hits allowed, three runs, just one earned, and three strikeouts. With the Angels’ rotation still thin and multiple pitchers fighting for spots, each start matters more than ever. Even in a loss, Johnson may have done enough to leave an impression on Angels manager Kurt Suzuki and earn another look.
In Other News...
Arte Moreno Just Deepened Another Lost Angels Season
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Arte Moreno has already made one major change by moving on from Perry Minasian, but the more telling decision may be what he has chosen not to do as the deadline approaches. For a team that could use a reset, holding the line instead of cashing in on players with trade value leaves the Angels trying to justify a stay-the-course approach in a season that has offered little reason for optimism. [Read more 🡒]
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Sorianos numbers keep him in the mix, and Detmers brings a different profile with more workload and a sharper strikeout edge, while Ureas recent run has made him impossible to ignore. The catch is the roster math. The AL is unlikely to have room for more than a small handful of starting pitchers, which means the Angels may end up with a problem that good teams love in theory and hate in practice: too many deserving arms, and not enough spots to fit them all. [Read more 🡒]
Angels Waste Another Strong Soriano Night In Frustrating Loss To Seattle
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The frustrating part came when the game finally broke open, and the Angels could not keep the Mariners from turning a tight contest into an 8-3 loss. Los Angeles did make a brief push to cut into the gap, but Seattle answered quickly and left the Angels to head toward Thursdays series finale still looking for a cleaner finish. Jos Urea is slated to get the ball next. [Read more 🡒]