Mariners’ offense erupts in 11-3 victory over Angels

Published 1:30 am Thursday, May 4, 2017

By Bob Dutton

The News Tribune

SEATTLE — It was Star Wars Night on Thursday at Safeco Field. May 4th. Get it? May the Fourth be with you. So some strange sights.

None stranger, perhaps, than the Mariners cruising to an easy victory. There haven’t been many of those. Maybe there was some carry-over from Wednesday’s winning roller-coaster ride.

Lefty Ariel Miranda delivered seven strong innings and a balanced 16-hit attack produced an 11-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Danny Valencia had four hits, including a booming home run, while driving in three runs.

Nelson Cruz, Guillermo Heredia and Ben Gamel each contributed two RBI. Heredia and and Gamel each had three hits. It was enough to turn Robinson Cano’s 0-for-5 into a footnote.

Valencia’s home run reached the upper deck in left field. Maybe he’s finding his form after a rough first month-plus.

And just maybe the same is true for the Mariners, who bounced back to win the three-game series after allowing Tuesday’s opener to slip away in extra innings.

Miranda (3-2) gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings against an Angels lineup that lacked reigning American League MVP Mike Trout, who is nursing a tight hamstring.

Yunel Escobar had four hits, but Miranda rolled through just about everyone else before Tony Zych and Dillon Overton closed out the victory.

The Mariners built a 6-2 lead through four innings against Angels starter Alex Meyer, who gave up eight hits and walked three. Heredia’s two-run double in a three-run third was the key blow.

Meyer’s first pitch in the first inning hit Jean Segura in the hip. Whether it was in retaliation for Trout getting hit Wednesday in the ninth inning is anyone’s guess.

Segura was then thrown out attempting to steal second before Gamel completed a four-pitch walk.

The Mariners still scored first for the 12th time in 13 games when the Angels failed to execute a double play on Cano’s grounder to second. Cruz followed with an RBI double into the right-center gap.

The Angels answered with two runs in the second inning when Juan Graterol blooped a two-out single to left with runners on second and third.

Escobar then hit a liner that struck Miranda in the left calf.

Miranda recovered and made a wild throw to first that allowed Graterol to reach third.

After an exam at the mound, Miranda remained in the game, stranded both runners and permitted just two hits over the next four innings.

The Mariners regained the lead at 4-2 by scoring three two-out runs in the third inning. After Gamel’s leadoff walk, Kyle Seager and Valencia laced two-out singles, which tied the game.

First baseman Jefry Marte missed a chance to end the inning when he couldn’t catch Heredia’s foul pop that landed one row into the stands. Heredia followed with a bloop double to right that scored two runs.

The Mariners stretched their lead to 6-2 in the fourth inning.

Segura lined a one-out single and came all the way around on Gamel’s double past first into the right-field corner. Cruz added a two-out RBI single.

The Mariners made it 7-2 in the sixth inning against reliever Daniel Wright after Segura and Gamel opened the inning with singles. Cano grounded into a double play, but Segura scored.