Major League Baseball
LA Angels 9, Seattle 7
When: 9:10 PM ET, Saturday, May 14, 2016
Where: Safeco Field, Seattle, Washington
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Nic Lentz, 1B - Mark Ripperger, 2B - Fieldin Culbreth, 3B - Jim Reynolds
Attendance: 42038

SEATTLE -- Inside a raucous stadium that hosted a crazy game offering just about everything that makes the game of baseball great, Albert Pujols provided the one thing that had yet to be seen at Safeco Field.

Complete silence.

Pujols hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning, capping a night of comebacks with the winner as the Los Angeles Angels rallied to beat Seattle 9-7 on Saturday night.

"It feels good," Pujols said of quieting the 42,038 fans with one swing of the bat. "I've been in that situation before and I've done it before."

Mariners closer Steve Cishek blew a save for the second night in a row, serving up the home run after Seattle (21-15) had used a five-run eighth to take a 7-6 lead.

Pujols hit the fourth home run of the night for Los Angeles, which had three home runs -- from Johnny Giavotella, Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout -- in the seventh inning alone.

The Angels (15-21) used a five-run seventh to pull out to a 6-2 lead before the Mariners came back to take the lead in the eighth.

Cam Bedrosian (1-0) picked up the win and Cishek (2-3) suffered his third blown save in 14 chances this season.

"There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that I was going to shut the door right there," a frustrated Cishek said after giving up the winning hit in the top of the ninth for the second night in a row. "I just got too aggressive with my slider and I paid for it; the team paid for it."

Cishek got the first out of the ninth before hitting Calhoun and serving up a single to Trout to put two runners on for Pujols. The veteran slugger hit a 1-1 pitch down the left-field line for a towering home run that gave the Angels a total of 14 runs in the final three innings of Friday and Saturday’s games.

"Their bullpen is tough," Pujols said. "Any time you can take two games like that, it's huge, especially against one of the best closers in the game."

Seattle first baseman Adam Lind drove in four runs, including a two-run double that tied the score in the bottom of the eighth, and Seattle teammate Steve Clevenger delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI single.

The Mariners rallied from a 6-2 deficit by scoring five times off the Los Angeles bullpen in the eighth.

Back-to-back home runs on consecutive pitches from Calhoun and Trout in the seventh helped the Angels rally from an early deficit to take a 6-2 lead. The five-run seventh, which began with a Johnny Giavotella solo shot, looked like it would be enough before Seattle rallied against the Los Angeles bullpen in the bottom of the eighth.

"You've just got to keep playing," Calhoun said. "You've got 27 outs, nine innings -- sometimes more. It's not over until it's over."

After Los Angeles starter Jhoulys Chacin left the game after seven solid innings in his Angels debut, Mariners stars Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz both drove in runs off reliever Mike Morin to cut the Seattle deficit to 6-4.

Lind's two-run double into the right-field corner tied the score 6-6 when Cruz beat an off-line throw from Calhoun on the play, then Clevenger delivered the two-out single to score Lind and give the Mariners a 7-6 lead.

Chacin, making his Angels debut after being acquired from Atlanta earlier in the week, threw seven solid innings but was not involved in the decision. Chacin allowed two runs and five hits and was in line to get the win before Seattle’s eighth-inning comeback.

"I felt my control of my pitches went pretty well for not pitching in 10 days," Chacin said. "I feel good for going seven innings and being able to give us a chance to win."

Los Angeles rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 6-2 lead in the top of the seventh.

Angels third baseman Yunel Escobar, who was back in the lineup despite a sprained thumb, gave Los Angeles its first lead with an RBI single. After Giavotella tied the score with a leadoff homer, Escobar drove in Carlos Perez with a one-out single to left, giving the Angels a 3-2 lead while chasing Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma from the game.

Calhoun added his third home run of the season with a two-run shot off reliever Joel Peralta to right field on the next at-bat, then Trout hit Peralta's next pitch over the fence in left for a 6-2 Los Angeles lead.

Iwakuma allowed four runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings. He threw five scoreless innings before the Angels scored on Daniel Nava's two-out RBI double in the sixth, cutting the Seattle lead to 2-1.

Cano extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI single in the eighth, then Cruz drove in another run as Seattle pulled to within 6-4 on Los Angeles reliever Mike Morin. Lind, who had a two-run homer earlier in the game, tied the score with the two-run double to right. The Angels’ Calhoun collected the ball and had a realistic shot at gunning down Cruz at home plate, which would have ended the inning with Los Angeles still ahead by a run, but his throw was off target and allowed the Mariners to score the tying run.

Clevenger, a backup catcher who was playing so that every-day starter Chris Iannetta could get a night off, followed Lind’s double with a hard single to right. Lind scored easily for a 7-6 lead.

Over the first two games of the series, the Seattle bullpen has allowed nine runs over 5 1/3 innings while failing to hold late-inning leads in both losses. Peralta and Cishek have been responsible for all nine runs, having allowed four combined homers in the two losses.

"We didn't quite seal the deal, but it was an electric atmosphere out there," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "It's just what you want to see in a game. It was crazy, entertaining, exciting, gut-wrenching. It had everything."

NOTES: Jhoulys Chacin made his Angels debut on Saturday night. Chacin, 28, started five games with the Atlanta Braves before being acquired for minor-league pitcher Adam McCreery on Wednesday. ... The Mariners shook up their batting order a bit on Saturday night, with SS Ketel Marte moving from second in the order to the No. 8 hole. RF Seth Smith batted No. 2. ... Los Angeles SS Gregorio Petit, who was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake on Friday, was in the Angels' starting lineup for Saturday's game. He is the third different shortstop Los Angeles has started in as many games and the fourth starter that the Angels have had at the position this season. Cliff Pennington started Thursday and went on the disabled list Friday, opening the door for Brendan Ryan on Friday as Los Angeles tries to fill the spot vacated by injured SS Andrelton Simmons. ... Angels 3B Yunel Escobar, who was sidelined by a sprained thumb on Friday night, returned to the lineup as the leadoff hitter Saturday. ... The three-game series wraps up with a Sunday afternoon game. Seattle gets Monday off before beginning a three-game series in Baltimore on Tuesday, while the Angels will play the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
LA Angels   Seattle
Jhoulys Chacin Player Hisashi Iwakuma
No Decision W/L No Decision
7.0 IP 6.1
4 Strikeouts 2
5 Hits 9
2.57 ERA 5.68
Hitting
LA Angels   Seattle
Kole Calhoun Player Kyle Seager
3 Hits 3
2 RBI 0
1 HR 0
6 TB 4
.750 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
LA Angels 13 4 27 .351 14 4 9 4 0 0
Seattle 11 1 16 .289 12 8 7 1 0 1