Andrew Heaney threw 7 2/3 strong innings, Mike Trout homered, and Justin Upton had three hits to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night in Anaheim, Calif.
Heaney's performance was his best of the season, the first time he pitched into the eighth inning since Aug. 20, 2019. He gave up one run on four hits, walked two and struck out a season-best 10.
The only run the Mariners scored against Heaney (2-2) came on Sam Haggerty's RBI single in the sixth inning that snapped a scoreless tie. Ty Buttrey relieved Heaney with two outs in the eighth and got the final four outs for his fourth save, but it didn't come easily.
Trailing 3-1, the Mariners had runners on first and second with one out in the ninth when Tim Lopes singled to right. Kyle Seager scored from second, but Jose Marmolejos was thrown out trying to go first to third.
Right fielder Jo Adell threw to cutoff man Andrelton Simmons, who threw to third baseman Anthony Rendon to nail Marmolejos for the second out of the inning. Buttrey then retired Shed Long on a fly to right to end it.
Upton had a double and two singles, including a single that drove in Albert Pujols in the bottom of the sixth with what turned out to be the game-winning run. It was a big night for Upton, considering he had just seven hits all season and a .099 average before Friday's game.
Trout, whose home run in the eighth inning was his 11th of the season, has been struggling lately as well. Trout went into the game with just three hits in his previous 23 at-bats and had not homered in his past nine games.
Mariners starter Nick Margevicius and Heaney matched each other zero for zero for five innings before the Mariners broke through in the top of the sixth. Following a leadoff double by J.P. Crawford, Haggerty singled to center to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.
The Angels, however, responded in the bottom of the sixth against Margevicius (1-2). Shohei Ohtani led off with a walk, and two outs later, he stole second. Pujols drove home Ohtani with a ground-rule double to tie the game before Upton singled home Pujols for a 2-1 Angels lead.
Margevicius was finished after six innings, having made 98 pitches. He gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five.
The Angels increased their lead to 3-1 when Trout homered in the bottom of the eighth off Mariners reliever Brady Lail.
--Field Level Media
Seattle | LA Angels | |
Nick Margevicius | Player | Andrew Heaney |
Loss | W/L | Win |
6.0 | IP | 7.2 |
5 | Strikeouts | 10 |
7 | Hits | 4 |
3.00 | ERA | 1.17 |
Seattle | LA Angels | |
J.P. Crawford | Player | Justin Upton |
1 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 4 |
.333 | Avg | .750 |