SEATTLE — Mike Trout doesn’t have - or perhaps doesn’t want to share - the reason for why he has hit so well in Seattle throughout his career.
“I don’t know. We play here a lot. I see the ball good,” Trout said. “I couldn’t tell you one particular thing. They’ve got a good backdrop.”
At this point maybe Seattle should consider changing the backdrop anytime Trout is coming to town.
Trout continued to torment Seattle with his 48th and 49th career home runs against his division foe, Shohei Ohtani tossed six innings of three-hit ball and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Mariners 4-1 on Thursday night.
Trout has feasted on Seattle pitching throughout his career and this season appears to be no different. In the first meeting this season between the teams, Trout hit a pair of two-run homers to account for all of the Angels’ offense.
The Angels won on the road for the first time since May 15, snapping an 11-game losing streak.
Trout’s first homer came off Seattle starter George Kirby in the third inning. His second came in the seventh against reliever Sergio Romo. Both times, Seattle had two outs in the inning, but each time Taylor Ward singled to bring Trout to the plate.
Seattle manager Scott Servais said Kirby missed his location on his fastball to Trout.
“It happens once in a while. Sometimes they pop it up. Unfortunately, Trout doesn’t seem to pop it up in this ballpark very often,” Servais said.
Trout has 18 homers on the season and 30 in his career in Seattle, the most of any visiting player at T-Mobile Park. The 49 career homers against the Mariners is second-most all-time, trailing only Rafael Palmeiro, who had 52 against Seattle.
“I wasn’t aware of that number. I knew he swung the bat well here,” Angels interim manager Phil Nevin said. “He’s pretty good.”
It was also his 24th career multi-homer game, seven against Seattle.
A night after breaking up Tyler Anderson’s no-hit bid with a triple in the ninth inning, Ohtani was the one shutting down batters. Ohtani allowed a pair of singles to Eugenio Suárez and a base hit to Adam Frazier but otherwise stymied Seattle’s slumping offense.
Ohtani (5-4) struck out six and won his second straight decision. Ohtani probably would have gone one more inning under normal circumstances, but the Angels didn’t get to their hotel in Seattle until close to 4 a.m. Thursday.
“I knew my pitch count was up there. If I had seven to 15 less pitches I would have definitely wanted to go back out,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.
Raisel Igelsias was the last of three relievers, pitching the ninth for his 13th save.
Seattle snapped a streak of 17 scoreless innings on J.P. Crawford’s RBI double in the eighth, but still scored three runs or less for the sixth time in nine games.
KIRBY’S GROWTH
Kirby (1-2) continued Seattle’s stretch of strong starting pitching getting zero help from the Mariners’ anemic offense. Kirby scattered six hits over six innings with six strikeouts.
Over the past five games, Seattle’s starting pitching has allowed five earned runs over 30 2/3 innings pitched. The Mariners are 1-4 during that span.
“I thought George was outstanding. I think he continues to learn and get better every time out there,” Servais said. “Using probably 50% fastballs and 50% offspeed - a combination of the slider, curveball and changeup - is probably the most ideal number for him. Some nights it might be more weighted one way or the other. But outstanding job tonight.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: 3B Anthony Rendon was feeling better ahead of the game and was in consideration to be a pinch-hit option, Nevin said. Rendon left Tuesday’s game against the Dodgers after aggravating a right wrist injury. … SS Andrew Velazquez had the day off until the ninth inning. Nevin said he wants to get Velazquez some occasional rest.
Mariners: 1B Ty France got a day off after feeling some general soreness. … 1B Evan White restarted his rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma. White had sports hernia surgery in the spring and had a first stint in the minors shut down for a while.
UP NEXT
Angels: RHP Michael Lorenzen (6-3, 3.45) goes for his second straight win after throwing 6 1/3 innings and allowing one run in his last start against the New York Mets. Lorenzen has allowed three earned runs or less in seven of 10 starts.
Mariners: LHP Robbie Ray (5-6, 4.52) is coming off his best start of the season in his last outing against Boston. Ray threw seven shutout innings allowing three hits against Boston but came away with a no decision.
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