4/4/23
Mariners 11, Angels 2
(Seattle, WA) Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park was a night where the Mariners got to take out some of their frustrations from an early season struggle. New faces also got to showcase what they can do when they are seeing the ball well at the plate as Teoscar Hernandez and AJ Pollock both put on a show. With the offense clicking and Luis Castillo on the mound, Mariner fans got to enjoy the end of a four-game losing streak as the Mariners blew out the Angels in game two of the three-game series by a final score of 11-2.
Having La Piedra on the mound always gives the Mariners a good chance to win. It was going to be on the offense to get the job done. After Castillo pitched around a leadoff double in the top of the 1st, Julio Rodriguez led off the bottom of the 1st for the Mariners with his third double of the young season. After moving to third after an error by Luis Rengifo at third, Angels starter Jose Suarez spiked an off-speed pitch in the dirt that would get to the backstop. This allowed J-Rod to score to give the Mariners an early 1-0 lead. The run gave the Mariners an opening inning run for the fourth time in the first six games of 2023.
Castillo rolled through the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings only allowing one baserunner in those frames via the walk. He even flashed the leather fielding a groundball behind his back in a play you can see on any top 10 highlight montage in the nation.
The offense continued to help out the Mariner ace in the bottom of the 4th. Teoscar Hernandez let out a long sigh of relief to leadoff the inning. Suarez hung a slider and Hernandez made him pay with his first home run as a Mariner with a 419-foot shot to center field to make it 2-0 Mariners. Seattle wasn’t done in the inning. A single by Eugenio Suarez and a double for Cal Raleigh had runners on second and third with nobody out. An RBI groundout for AJ Pollock would be the only add on at that point but the Mariners had a nice 3-0 lead after four.
In the bottom of the 5th the game turned into a blowout and it would be due to the long ball. With runners on first and second, Teoscar Hernandez outdid himself by destroying a Jose Suarez fastball 426 feet into the Mariner bullpen for a three-run homer and his second home run of the night. Fans didn’t have much time to celebrate the 6-0 lead. Three batters later, after a Eugenio Suarez single and Cal Raleigh strikeout, AJ Pollock decided he needed his first home run as a new member of the Seattle ball club. Pollock lined one into the Angels bullpen this time to make it 8-0 Mariners.
The new guys quickly opened up the game for one of the best pitchers in baseball. Luis Castillo once again showed why he was the top prize at the trade deadline last season. After six innings of one hit scoreless baseball in his first start, Castillo looked just as good in start number two. La Piedra would finish his day after 5 2/3 innings of scoreless pitching allowing two hits, two walks and six strikeouts.
The guys weren’t done yet. A two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 7th by Cal Raleigh cashed in on a Ty France double to make it 9-0. Pollock and Hernandez were one in the same on Tuesday night and Pollock joined the multi-home run party. One pitch after the Raleigh RBI, Pollock cranked another home run into left field for his second of the night and RBIs four and five for the veteran. More importantly, it made it 11-0 Mariners with just two innings left.
Paul Sewald struggled in the 8th out of the bullpen which allowed the Angels to get on the board. With the bases loaded, Hunter Renfroe singled in a run and a Brandon Drury sacrifice fly made it 11-2. Gabe Speier would not struggle in the 9th however and he would strikeout Taylor Ward to finish off the Seattle win and put an end to the four-game skid.
The Mariners (2-4) and the Angels (3-2) will conclude the three-game series with the rubber game on Wednesday afternoon at 1:10pm. Chris Flexen (0-0, 2.25 ERA) will make his first start of the season for the Mariners after replacing Robbie Ray who was placed on the IL in the starting rotation. It will be a tough task for the M’s as they face Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 0.00 ERA) who looks to showcase his two-way prowess for the first Mariners Matinee of 2023.
Notable Performances
Angels
- Taylor Ward- 2-4, 2B, BB, R
- Hunter Renfroe- 2-4, RBI
- Jose Suarez (L, 0-1)- 4.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO
Mariners
- AJ Pollock- 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 R
- Teoscar Hernandez- 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
- Luis Castillo (W, 1-0)- 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
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