ANAHEIM, Calif. -- When Albert Pujols hit his 592nd career homer leading off the ninth inning, the shot appeared to be a pleasant asterisk on a blowout loss for the Los Angeles Angels.
By the time he came up again eight batters later, the bases were loaded and the game had changed -- and Pujols came through again to keep an incredible comeback rolling.
Pujols homered and hit a tying two-run single before Cliff Pennington's drive to the wall capped Los Angeles' ninth-inning rally from a six-run deficit for a 10-9 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Pennington's single drove in Mike Trout to end a preposterous finish by the Angels, who trailed 8-1 in the seventh and 9-3 before Pujols homered off Casey Fien.
The Halos scored seven runs on five hits and four walks in the ninth inning, sending them to their first 5-2 start to a season since 2007. The franchise hadn't scored at least seven runs in the ninth to win a one-run game since Aug. 29, 1986.
"To come all the way back like that, that's one of those magical, magical wins," Pennington said. "It will probably only happen a few times a year, but it's a good one."
After Pujols connected and subsequently Fien walked the bases loaded, Yunel Escobar trimmed Seattle's lead with a two-out, two-run double off closer Edwin Diaz (0-1), who gave up three hits.
"It's a tough one to swallow because I put (Diaz) in a bad situation, and he tried to battle and get himself out of it," Fien said. "They got some hits that usually aren't hits, but it was one of those games."
Diaz then walked Kole Calhoun and Trout before Pujols and Pennington delivered back-to-back singles, setting off a raucous celebration on the field and among the thousands of Angels fans who didn't leave early.
"It's huge," Pennington said. "It gives you a lot of momentum. Two or three weeks from now, when we're down by three or four runs in the seventh, it's a feeling that you've had before, where you've come back and won that game. So much of this game is between the ears, that when you do this type of thing a couple of times, you start to believe you can, and then it happens more frequently."
Andrew Bailey (2-0) pitched the ninth in the Angels' fifth win in six games since opening day.
Robinson Cano had a three-run homer and a two-run double for the Mariners, who fell to 1-6 in excruciating fashion.
"It's a really tough one," Cano said. "The thing is, nothing is going our way. We've just got to keep fighting. The last thing you want is to hang your head and start thinking about what happened the first seven, eight games. Just get ready for tomorrow."
The Mariners appeared to be cruising when Mitch Haniger knocked a 427-foot drive off Angel Stadium's ficus trees in the seventh inning to put them up by seven runs. Instead, Seattle's bullpen fell apart in spectacular fashion, giving up nine runs and nine hits in three innings.
GOOD START
Hisashi Iwakuma pitched six innings of two-hit ball for the Mariners, yielding only Andrelton Simmons' early homer, but the Japanese veteran remains winless in two starts despite yielding only three runs in 12 innings.
SHOE'S COMEBACK
Matt Shoemaker yielded five hits and six earned runs while failing to get out of the fifth inning. It was the right-hander's second start since his season ended early last September due to a line drive to his head off the bat of Seattle's Kyle Seager.
"Those guys picked me up huge," Shoemaker said. "Made a really, really sour day turn really sweet. It's awesome."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: Just one Los Angeles starter threw six full innings in the first week of the season, forcing the bullpen to work extensively. The bullpen gets a rest day Monday, but the Angels have 20 games in the ensuing 20 days.
UP NEXT
Mariners: James Paxton (0-0, 0.00 ERA) takes the mound for the home opener against Houston. He pitched six strong innings against the Astros last week, allowing only three baserunners.
Angels: Tyler Skaggs (0-1, 8.44 ERA) looks to bounce back from a rocky season-opening start in Oakland when the Angels open a three-game home series against Texas on Tuesday.
Seattle Mariners
By the time he came up again eight batters later, the bases were loaded and the game had changed -- and Pujols came through again to keep an incredible comeback rolling.
Pujols homered and hit a tying two-run single before Cliff Pennington's drive to the wall capped Los Angeles' ninth-inning rally from a six-run deficit for a 10-9 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Pennington's single drove in Mike Trout to end a preposterous finish by the Angels, who trailed 8-1 in the seventh and 9-3 before Pujols homered off Casey Fien.
The Halos scored seven runs on five hits and four walks in the ninth inning, sending them to their first 5-2 start to a season since 2007. The franchise hadn't scored at least seven runs in the ninth to win a one-run game since Aug. 29, 1986.
"To come all the way back like that, that's one of those magical, magical wins," Pennington said. "It will probably only happen a few times a year, but it's a good one."
After Pujols connected and subsequently Fien walked the bases loaded, Yunel Escobar trimmed Seattle's lead with a two-out, two-run double off closer Edwin Diaz (0-1), who gave up three hits.
"It's a tough one to swallow because I put (Diaz) in a bad situation, and he tried to battle and get himself out of it," Fien said. "They got some hits that usually aren't hits, but it was one of those games."
Diaz then walked Kole Calhoun and Trout before Pujols and Pennington delivered back-to-back singles, setting off a raucous celebration on the field and among the thousands of Angels fans who didn't leave early.
"It's huge," Pennington said. "It gives you a lot of momentum. Two or three weeks from now, when we're down by three or four runs in the seventh, it's a feeling that you've had before, where you've come back and won that game. So much of this game is between the ears, that when you do this type of thing a couple of times, you start to believe you can, and then it happens more frequently."
Andrew Bailey (2-0) pitched the ninth in the Angels' fifth win in six games since opening day.
Robinson Cano had a three-run homer and a two-run double for the Mariners, who fell to 1-6 in excruciating fashion.
"It's a really tough one," Cano said. "The thing is, nothing is going our way. We've just got to keep fighting. The last thing you want is to hang your head and start thinking about what happened the first seven, eight games. Just get ready for tomorrow."
The Mariners appeared to be cruising when Mitch Haniger knocked a 427-foot drive off Angel Stadium's ficus trees in the seventh inning to put them up by seven runs. Instead, Seattle's bullpen fell apart in spectacular fashion, giving up nine runs and nine hits in three innings.
GOOD START
Hisashi Iwakuma pitched six innings of two-hit ball for the Mariners, yielding only Andrelton Simmons' early homer, but the Japanese veteran remains winless in two starts despite yielding only three runs in 12 innings.
SHOE'S COMEBACK
Matt Shoemaker yielded five hits and six earned runs while failing to get out of the fifth inning. It was the right-hander's second start since his season ended early last September due to a line drive to his head off the bat of Seattle's Kyle Seager.
"Those guys picked me up huge," Shoemaker said. "Made a really, really sour day turn really sweet. It's awesome."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: Just one Los Angeles starter threw six full innings in the first week of the season, forcing the bullpen to work extensively. The bullpen gets a rest day Monday, but the Angels have 20 games in the ensuing 20 days.
UP NEXT
Mariners: James Paxton (0-0, 0.00 ERA) takes the mound for the home opener against Houston. He pitched six strong innings against the Astros last week, allowing only three baserunners.
Angels: Tyler Skaggs (0-1, 8.44 ERA) looks to bounce back from a rocky season-opening start in Oakland when the Angels open a three-game home series against Texas on Tuesday.
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Seattle - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Shoemaker pitching for Los Angeles | SEA | LAA |
| Segura hit by pitch. | 0 | 0 |
| Haniger popped out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Segura stole second. | 0 | 0 |
| Canó grounded out to first, Segura to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Segura scored on Shoemaker's balk. | 1 | 0 |
| Cruz flied out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Hisashi Iwakuma pitching for Seattle | SEA | LAA |
| Escobar grounded out to third. | 1 | 0 |
| Calhoun flied out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| Trout walked. | 1 | 0 |
| Pujols flied out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Matt Shoemaker pitching for Los Angeles | SEA | LAA |
| Seager grounded out to third. | 1 | 0 |
| Valencia grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 0 |
| Martín grounded out to pitcher. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Hisashi Iwakuma pitching for Seattle | SEA | LAA |
| Simmons homered to left (360 feet). | 1 | 1 |
| Cron struck out swinging. | 1 | 1 |
| Revere grounded out to second. | 1 | 1 |
| Espinosa lined out to center. | 1 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Matt Shoemaker pitching for Los Angeles | SEA | LAA |
| Ruiz singled to left. | 1 | 1 |
| Motter lined out to right. | 1 | 1 |
| Segura singled to left center, Ruiz to second. | 1 | 1 |
| Haniger struck out swinging. | 1 | 1 |
| Canó homered to center (406 feet), Ruiz and Segura scored. | 4 | 1 |
| Cruz lined out to left. | 4 | 1 |
| 3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Hisashi Iwakuma pitching for Seattle | SEA | LAA |
| Pérez flied out to center. | 4 | 1 |
| Escobar grounded out to third. | 4 | 1 |
| Calhoun walked. | 4 | 1 |
| Trout struck out swinging. | 4 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Matt Shoemaker pitching for Los Angeles | SEA | LAA |
| Seager grounded out to second. | 4 | 1 |
| Valencia grounded out to shortstop. | 4 | 1 |
| Martín singled to left. | 4 | 1 |
| Martín caught stealing second, catcher to second. | 4 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Hisashi Iwakuma pitching for Seattle | SEA | LAA |
| Pujols flied out to left. | 4 | 1 |
| Simmons walked. | 4 | 1 |
| Cron grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Simmons out at second. | 4 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Matt Shoemaker pitching for Los Angeles | SEA | LAA |
| Ruiz grounded out to second. | 4 | 1 |
| Motter walked. | 4 | 1 |
| Segura reached first base on catcher's interference, Motter to second. | 4 | 1 |
| Haniger hit by pitch, Motter to third, Segura to second. | 4 | 1 |
| Canó doubled to deep right, Motter and Segura scored, Haniger to third. | 6 | 1 |
| Cruz walked. | 6 | 1 |
| Morin relieved Shoemaker. | 6 | 1 |
| Seager hit sacrifice fly to center, Haniger scored. | 7 | 1 |
| Valencia flied out to left. | 7 | 1 |
| 3 Runs, 1 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Hisashi Iwakuma pitching for Seattle | SEA | LAA |
| Revere flied out to center. | 7 | 1 |
| Espinosa lined out to shortstop. | 7 | 1 |
| Pérez fouled out to first. | 7 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Mike Morin pitching for Los Angeles | SEA | LAA |
| Martín lined out to center. | 7 | 1 |
| Ruiz grounded out to third. | 7 | 1 |
| Motter struck out swinging. | 7 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Hisashi Iwakuma pitching for Seattle | SEA | LAA |
| Escobar lined out to right. | 7 | 1 |
| Calhoun singled to right. | 7 | 1 |
| Calhoun to second on wild pitch by Iwakuma. | 7 | 1 |
| Trout lined out to left. | 7 | 1 |
| Pujols grounded out to shortstop. | 7 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Mike Morin pitching for Los Angeles | SEA | LAA |
| Segura struck out swinging. | 7 | 1 |
| Haniger homered to center (426 feet). | 8 | 1 |
| Canó lined out to shortstop. | 8 | 1 |
| Cruz popped out to first. | 8 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Nick Vincent pitching for Seattle | SEA | LAA |
| Vincent relieved Iwakuma. | 8 | 1 |
| Simmons grounded out to third. | 8 | 1 |
| Cron singled to left. | 8 | 1 |
| Revere doubled to deep right, Cron to third. | 8 | 1 |
| Espinosa struck out swinging. | 8 | 1 |
| Marte hit for Pérez. | 8 | 1 |
| Marte singled to left, Cron and Revere scored, Marte thrown out at second attempting to advance on play. | 8 | 3 |
| 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Blake Parker pitching for Los Angeles | SEA | LAA |
| Maldonado catching. | 8 | 3 |
| Parker relieved Morin. | 8 | 3 |
| Seager flied out to left. | 8 | 3 |
| Valencia safe at second on error by third baseman Escobar. | 8 | 3 |
| Martín flied out to center. | 8 | 3 |
| Ruiz doubled to left, Valencia scored. | 9 | 3 |
| Motter struck out swinging. | 9 | 3 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Marc Rzepczynski pitching for Seattle | SEA | LAA |
| Rzepczynski relieved Vincent. | 9 | 3 |
| Escobar singled to shallow right. | 9 | 3 |
| Calhoun grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Escobar out at second. | 9 | 3 |
| Altavilla relieved Rzepczynski. | 9 | 3 |
| Trout struck out swinging. | 9 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Andrew Bailey pitching for Los Angeles | SEA | LAA |
| Pennington at shortstop. | 9 | 3 |
| Bailey relieved Parker. | 9 | 3 |
| Segura struck out swinging. | 9 | 3 |
| Haniger flied out to right. | 9 | 3 |
| Canó grounded out to shortstop. | 9 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 9th | SCORE | |
| Casey Fien pitching for Seattle | SEA | LAA |
| Fien relieved Altavilla. | 9 | 3 |
| Pujols homered to center (405 feet). | 9 | 4 |
| Pennington walked. | 9 | 4 |
| Cron singled to left center, Pennington to second. | 9 | 4 |
| Revere walked, Pennington to third, Cron to second. | 9 | 4 |
| Díaz relieved Fien. | 9 | 4 |
| Espinosa grounded out to second, Pennington scored, Cron to third, Revere to second. | 9 | 5 |
| Maldonado struck out swinging. | 9 | 5 |
| Escobar doubled to right, Cron and Revere scored. | 9 | 7 |
| Escobar to third on wild pitch by Díaz. | 9 | 7 |
| Calhoun walked. | 9 | 7 |
| Trout walked, Calhoun to second. | 9 | 7 |
| Pujols singled to right, Escobar and Calhoun scored, Trout to third. | 9 | 9 |
| Pennington singled to deep right, Trout scored, Pujols to second. | 9 | 10 |
| 7 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
Seattle Mariners
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Segura SS | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | .333 | .375 | .433 |
| Haniger RF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | .214 | .333 | .571 |
| Canó 2B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | .241 | .290 | .414 |
| Cruz DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | .080 | .200 | .120 |
| Seager 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | .130 | .300 | .174 |
| Valencia 1B | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | .143 | .200 | .179 |
| Martín CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | .083 | .120 | .083 |
| Ruiz C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | .333 | .500 | .500 |
| Motter LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 17 | .000 | .250 | .000 |
| Totals | 33 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 148 | |||
| BATTING 2B: Canó (2, Shoemaker); Ruiz (1, Parker) HR: Canó (1, 3rd inning off Shoemaker 2 on, 2 Out); Haniger (3, 7th inning off Morin 0 on, 1 Out) RBI: Canó 5 (5), Seager (3), Haniger (4), Ruiz (1) SF: Seager 2-out RBI: Canó 3, Ruiz Mariners RISP: 3-8 (Haniger 0-1, Valencia 0-1, Martín 0-1, Ruiz 1-1, Canó 2-3, Motter 0-1) Team LOB: 3 | ||||||||||
| BASERUNNING SB: Segura (3, 2nd base off Shoemaker/Pérez) CS: Martín (1, 2nd base by Shoemaker/Pérez) | ||||||||||
| FIELDING DP: 2 (Segura-Canó-Valencia, Canó-Segura-Valencia). Outfield Assist: Motter (Marte at 2nd base). | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA |
| Attendance | 37,175 (81.7% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:27 |
| Weather | 66 degrees, partly cloudy |
| Wind | 7 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Jim Wolf, First Base - D.J. Reyburn, Second Base - Greg Gibson, Third Base - Tim Timmons |
No comments:
Post a Comment