SEATTLE (AP) - The praised was passed from Taylor Motter, to Jarrod Dyson and finally Jean Segura for the way the Seattle Mariners pulled off an unexpected and needed late rally.
Dyson’s two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning pulled Seattle even, Segura followed with a two-run single to take the lead, and the Mariners rallied for an 8-7 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.
Seattle watched an early 4-0 advantage evaporate because of shaky relief pitching. But the Mariners came through in the eighth inning, scoring all four runs with two outs to snap a three-game losing streak.
“That’s just the way we planned it all day,” Seattle manager Scott Servais deadpanned. “There was a lot going on in that ball game.”
Seattle’s victory featured a big early lead, another night of struggles from the bullpen in the middle innings and finally a string of quality at-bats in the eighth inning that yielded four runs.
The rally started with singles by Kyle Seager and Danny Valencia off reliever Blake Parker (0-2). Motter, on as a pinch hitter, walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases with two outs.
Dyson fell behind 0-2 but dropped a double off the end of the bat into shallow right field to score two and pull the Mariners even. Segura then chopped a single through the left side of the infield to score Motter and Dyson and put Seattle in front.
“It’s real frustrating, especially because the team’s been doing so well. You want to keep it going,” Parker said. “It hurts. You never want to hang a crooked number up there. You want to minimize the damage but sometimes the ball just finds a hole.”
Segura had a career-high four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Robinson Cano hit his fifth home run of the season.
“Motter had a huge at-bat and set the tone for Dyson behind him. Dyson, his huge two-strike knock for us … and I was just trying to put it in play,” Segura said.
Jean Machi (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth inning and Edwin Diaz worked a shaky ninth for his fifth save. Kole Calhoun hit a solo home run with two outs, and Diaz followed by hitting Mike Trout on the arm, but he struck out Albert Pujols to end the game.
Trout ignited the Angels’ one big rally with a two-run homer as Los Angeles sent 10 batters to the plate in the sixth inning and had seven hits. Trout’s homer off starter Hisashi Iwakuma was his eighth of the season, extended his hitting streak to a career-best 16 games and came on the day he was named the AL player of the month for April. Yunel Escobar capped the big inning with a two-run double.
ROBBERY
Seattle reliever Emilio Pagan gave up three hits and three earned runs in his major league debut in relief of Iwakuma. His only out recorded was a leaping catch at the wall by Guillermo Heredia that robbed Andrelton Simmons of a three-run homer.
“Awesome. What a play to go back on that ball, time it like he did over the wall. A huge play in the game,” Servais said.
STREAKING
Trout it hitting .400 with five homers and 15 runs scored during his hitting streak. … Seattle’s Nelson Cruz extended his hitting streak to 12 games, his longest since a career-best 21-game streak during the 2015 season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: RHP Andrew Bailey (shoulder) threw off the mound for the first time Wednesday in the rehab process. Manager Mike Scioscia said Bailey would have to be evaluated before a time table would be set on a possible rehab start.
Mariners: RHP Steve Cishek (hip) is likely to throw another bullpen later this week before the team decides on whether to send him out for a second rehab assignment.
UP NEXT
Angels: RHP Alex Meyer (0-0) will make his second start of the season but this time with a chance to stay in the rotation longer. Meyer will be starting in place of Tyler Skaggs, who is out for 10-12 weeks with an oblique injury.
Mariners: Ariel Miranda (2-2) allowed just one run in 5 1/3 innings in his last start against Cleveland to get the victory.
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