Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mike Trout homered, Justin Upton delivered the tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth inning and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 Friday night to win back-to-back games for only the second time all season.
Albert Pujols had an RBI double to tie George Brett for the sixth-most doubles in major league history in the opener of 10 consecutive home games for the last-place Angels. Trout homered in the eighth, while Upton went 3 for 4 in the first multi-hit game of the veteran Halos slugger’s rough season.
That was enough for Andrew Heaney (2-2), who rebounded from three straight disappointing starts with 7 2/3 innings of four-hit ball in his longest and best outing of the season.
Kyle Seager hit a leadoff double in the ninth and scored on Tim Lopes’ single to right, but Jose Marmolejos unwisely made the second out of the inning when rookie Jo Adell and relay man Andrelton Simmons caught him trying to go from first to third.
Ty Buttrey then got Shed Long Jr. on a flyout to secure his fourth save.
Nick Margevicius (1-2) yielded seven hits over six innings in another strong start for the Mariners. Sam Haggerty drove in the game’s first run with a single in the sixth, but Seattle lost for only the second time in seven games.
Both starters cruised through the first five innings, with Heaney allowing only two hits and Margevicius giving up five without a run.
Seattle finally broke through when J.P. Crawford led off the sixth with a double and scored on a single by Haggerty, who had failed to get down a bunt on his first two pitches.
Pujols evened it with two outs in the sixth, driving in Shohei Ohtani with a double down the left field line. The double was Pujols’ 665th, pulling him even with Brett and two behind Craig Biggio in fifth place in baseball history.
Upton then drove in Pujols with a single, his third hit of the night. The game was a much-needed rebound from Upton, whose batting average had dipped below .100 while he managed just two previous hits in all of August.
Trout hit a solo homer leading off the eighth, his first since Aug. 17. The three-time AL MVP has 11 homers this season, and his 45 homers over his career against Seattle are his most against any opponent.
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