Marco Gonzales allowed four hits in 8 1 /3 innings as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Daniel Vogelbach hit a tiebreaking home run in the bottom of the eighth inning as Seattle won its fourth straight game and swept the two-game series.
The Mariners improved to 7-1, breaking a franchise record for the best start to a season. Seattle started 6-1 in 1984, 1985 and 1995.
Gonzales (3-0) gave up a one-out single to Mike Trout in the first inning, a leadoff double to Jonathan Lucroy in the second, a two-out single to Lucroy in the seventh and a one-out single to Andrelton Simmons in the ninth. The left-hander walked one and struck out three.
Trout walked with one out in the ninth and moved to third on Simmons' hit, ending Gonzales' night.
Right-hander Anthony Swarzak, reinstated from the 10-day injured list earlier in the day after suffering a right shoulder impingement, made his Mariners debut by striking out Albert Pujols for the second out and getting Lucroy to ground out to second base to end the game.
Vogelbach, who entered the game without a hit this season, doubled in his first at-bat. With one out in the eighth, he hit a 2-2 pitch from right-hander Luis Garcia (0-1) just over the fence in deep left-center field to give the Mariners their only lead.
The Mariners homered for the eighth straight game to start the season, matching the franchise mark set by the 1998 club.
Angels right-hander Trevor Cahill matched Gonzales for six innings, allowing one run on three hits. Cahill didn't walk a batter and struck out five.
Lucroy led off the second with a ground-rule double to right-center field. He moved to third on a groundout to the right side of the infield by Kole Calhoun and scored on Kevan Smith's groundout to shortstop.
The Mariners tied the score in the sixth. With one out, Dee Gordon grounded a double into right field and later advanced to third on a wild pitch. He scored when Mitch Haniger delivered a two-out double down the left-field line.
The Angels suffered their fourth consecutive defeat.
--Field Level Media
LA Angels | Seattle | |
Trevor Cahill | Player | Marco Gonzales |
No Decision | W/L | Win |
6.0 | IP | 8.1 |
5 | Strikeouts | 3 |
3 | Hits | 4 |
1.50 | ERA | 1.08 |
LA Angels | Seattle | |
Jonathan Lucroy | Player | Daniel Vogelbach |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 1 |
3 | TB | 6 |
.500 | Avg | .667 |