L.A. ANGELS 3
SEATTLE 0
SEATTLE 鈥� Felix Hernandez was rolling, painting corners with fastballs, getting batters flailing at his sinking changeup and riling up his little corner of Safeco Field that kept cheering his strikeouts.
And yet, the Mariners ace was getting outpitched by the Angels Hector Santiago.
鈥淪antiago was very good. Obviously he kept us off balance, and he can do that to you,鈥� Seattle manager Scott Servais said. 鈥淔elix matched him. Gave up a few more hits but Felix has very good stuff today, threw the ball very well. We were right there. Tight game, just didn鈥檛 get much going offensively.鈥�
Santiago pitched eight innings of two-hit ball and Daniel Nava鈥檚 two-run, two-out single in the eighth inning gave the Angels the cushion they needed to beat the Mariners 3-0 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
The Angels were reeling when they arrived in Seattle, having lost six straight and seemed the perfect opponent for the rolling Mariners. Instead, Seattle鈥檚 early momentum was stymied, and Los Angeles knocked the Mariners from first place in the AL West.
Seattle was swept for the second time this season 鈥� both at home. But this one featured the Mariners blowing ninth-inning leads twice and then getting a solid performance from Hernandez only to get zero offensive support.
鈥淲e were right in every game, we just didn鈥檛 get it done. It鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� Servais said. 鈥淎s high as we were early in the week, to have it flip on us on the weekend is frustrating, but we鈥檝e played well on the road.鈥�
Hernandez (3-3) was shaky early, dominant in the middle and managed his pitch count in the later innings. Hernandez had left runners in scoring position in the first two innings before starting on a dominant strikeout streak in the third inning. Hernandez recorded eight straight outs via strikeout. He struck out the side in the third sandwiched around a single by Mike Trout, struck out the side in order in the fourth and set down Gregorio Petit and Yunel Escobar in the fifth before Kole Calhoun鈥檚 RBI single.
Hernandez finished with nine strikeouts but was responsible for all three runs.
鈥淚t was good today. It was the best game I鈥檝e thrown the whole year,鈥� Hernandez said. 鈥淚 just got to continue doing that and I鈥檒l be fine.鈥�
But Santiago was dominant, allowing just two hits overall, the first not coming until the sixth inning when Shawn O鈥橫alley led off with a bunt single that Santiago mishandled on the transfer. Chris Iannetta had Seattle鈥檚 only other hit with a line drive single in the seventh. Santiago (3-2) struck out five, allowed only one base runner to reach second base and matched a career high in innings pitched.
Santiago was helped by some nifty defensive plays by Petit, Escobar and C.J. Cron to help take away potential hits. O鈥橫alley led off the sixth with a bunt up the first base line that Santiago mishandled and was ruled a hit. Iannetta put an end to the debate about the ruling on the bunt hit with a solid single with two outs in the seventh inning, but that was it for offence against the left-hander.
鈥淚 feel like if I鈥檓 in that situation then I鈥檓 pitching good and getting zeros,鈥� Santiago said. 鈥淚f they get 10 hits and I put up six or seven zeros I鈥檓 happy just the same.鈥�
CLUTCH HIT
The Angels didn鈥檛 have a cushion until Nava came through in the eighth inning. Reliever Nick Vincent got Albert Pujols to ground out for the second out, but Nava guided a hard grounder into left field to score the pair and give the Angels a three-run lead.
TRAINERS ROOM
Mariners: RHP Joaquin Benoit (shoulder) will go with Seattle on its road trip but there is no set date on when he will be activated from the DL. Benoit hasn鈥檛 pitched since April 22.
UP NEXT
Mariners: Seattle is off on Monday before opening a six-game trip on Tuesday in Baltimore.
