SEATTLE — The end of the Seattle Mariners’ longest win streak this season didn’t feature any late-inning drama or controversy or even Mike Trout doing Mike Trout things, though he did register his first hit in the series and was intentionally walked twice.
No, Seattle’s 7-4 loss to the Angels on a less-than-sunny afternoon on the Fourth of July was a product of simply not playing or executing at a level commensurate for success.
And after eight consecutive wins, they were probably due for a clunker.
The details:
n Starter Mike Leake gave Seattle his shortest outing since April, pitching just four innings and giving up four runs (three earned).
n The Mariners’ middle relievers gave up three runs and couldn’t keep the deficit manageable for a comeback.
n The defense committed two errors and wasn’t as crisp as in past games.
n Seattle hitters couldn’t register the big hit late in the game, striking out seven times with runners in scoring position and 15 times overall.
And yet, with all those things happening, the Mariners weren’t without chances.
In the bottom of the ninth, Mike Zunino led off with a single and Denard Span doubled. Seattle brought the tying run to the plate three times. But Dee Gordon lined out to shallow center. Jean Segura hit a ground ball to first and Zunino was thrown out at the plate by Albert Pujols. Mitch Haniger’s ground ball to third ended their victory hopes and the game.
Reliever Blake Parker failed to cover first on the grounder to Pujols, so Pujols had no choice but to throw home.
“Pujols getting that guy at the plate was a huge out,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “The pitcher didn’t cover there, so Albert made a great decision and threw a strike to the plate.”
But that wasn’t the only opportunity.
If Jean Segura’s line drive to right-center with the bases loaded isn’t gloved on a brilliant leaping grab by David Fletcher in the bottom of the seventh, the Mariners have the eighth and ninth innings to overcome a one-run deficit, not three runs, to get that ninth straight win.
Leake allowed four runs and nine hits before leaving with no one out in the fifth. He had allowed two runs or less in seven of his previous eight starts.
“They were battling me, fouling balls off today,” Leake said. “Trying to get them to go down, but they found some holes and that’s about it.”
Batting in the leadoff spot for only the fourth time this season, Kole Calhoun had three hits and drove in three runs to lead the Angels.
Calhoun’s towering homer in the sixth gave the Angels a 6-2 lead. He also had a single in the fourth inning for his first RBI. Calhoun is batting .306 with four homers and eight RBI since coming off the DL on June 18. He was hitting .145 before that break.
“Kole did his job today,” Scioscia said. “That’s what we need from the guys at the top of the order. It gave us a lot of opportunities today.”
The Mariners will try to start a new streak on Thursday evening when they wrap up the series with the Angels.
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