Walker leads Mariners to 10-1 victory over Angels

SEATTLE — If this was it for Taijuan Walker — and that’s still to be determined — then this was a terrific way to close to the season.

Walker turned in seven dominant innings Monday as the Mariners kept their flickering postseason hopes alive with a 10-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels at Safeco Field.

The Mariners continue to monitor Walker’s innings; he’s now up to a career-high 169 2/3 after throwing just 129 last season over multiple levels.

“I feel I’ve got a lot left,” he said. “I felt really good today. I felt I had my good velo, and my changeup was good today. Whenever they tell me I’m done, I’ll be done. But right now, I’m planning on pitching the whole year.”

There was no sign of fatigue Monday from Walker, who gave up one run and four hits while striking out seven and walking none in a tight 96-pitch performance.

The Mariners backed Walker (11-8) with a 12-hit attack that included a two-run homer and a RBI double from Seth Smith when the game was still in doubt.

Robinson Cano had two hits, including a two-run double in a six-run seventh inning that turned the game into a rout. Mark Trumbo and Shawn O’Malley, a pair of former Angels, each had two hits.

The six-run inning matched a season high; just 10 days earlier, the Mariners scored six in the third inning in rallying for an 11-8 victory at Oakland.

As for Walker, the tentative plan is to skip him on the next cycle through the rotation and then reevaluate. And that decision might hinge on whether the Mariners can claw their way back into postseason contention.

“I’m just going to enjoy this game tonight,” manager Lloyd McClendon hedged. “Have some ice cream and figure all of that out (later).”

Climbing back into the race remains a long shot even after winning for the ninth time in 13 games. The Mariners are 70-75 with 17 games remaining and trail Texas by seven games for the final wild-card berth.

But…the Mariners head to Texas this weekend for a three-game series.

“Until mathematically you’re out of it,” Smith said, “you’re still in it. That’s the way you approach it. There’s no use thinking about anything else. Just go out there and try to win a baseball game.”

On Monday, they took advantage of Angels starter Garrett Richards (13-11) on an off-night. He labored through 100 pitches in five innings while giving up four runs on five hits and four walks.

“It was really a function of getting behind so many hitters,” LA manager Mike Scioscia said. “He lost his release point a little bit, and battled through five innings and needed a lot of pitches to get there.”

The Mariners’ six-run seventh came against Cory Rasmus and Cesar Ramos.

Walker’s only trouble came in the second after singles by David Murphy and C.J. Cron put runners at first and third with no outs. But Walker limited the damage to one run when Erick Aybar grounded into a double play.

The Mariners struck back later in the inning against Richards.

After Cano worked back from a 1-2 hole for a leadoff walk, Smith crushed a 2-0 fastball for a 408-foot drive to right for a two-run homer.

“(Richards) throws a really hard cutter,” Smith said. “That’s the pitch you work off of. You never know what you’re going to get, but you hope you get the one you’re looking for.

“I got a 2-0 cut fastball, and I was able to get the barrel to it.”

The Mariners weren’t done.

Trumbo reached on an infield single when Aybar couldn’t make a clean glove-to-hand exchange after a nice pickup. Trumbo went to second on Logan Morrison’s squibber to the mound.

O’Malley legged out an infield single to first as Trumbo took third. Richards then bounced a (blockable) pitch past catcher Carlos Perez that scored Trumbo for a 3-1 lead.

After Ketel Marte drew a two-out walk, Perez tried to pick off O’Malley at second, but the ball skipped and hit O’Malley in the head. O’Malley remained in the game.

Smith pushed the lead to 4-1 with an RBI double in the fifth. Nelson Cruz drew a two-out walk and went to second on Cano’s single to left before Smith sent a drive the hit the center-field wall.

A healthy Cano scores easily, but the Mariners settled for one run. It didn’t matter. The six-run seventh turned the game into a rout.