L.A. ANGELS 6
SEATTLE 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. 鈥� The Angels and Mariners closed out the season with a pitchers鈥� duel.
Parker Bridwell pitched seven scoreless innings in a showdown with James Paxton, Eric Young Jr. hit a three-run homer and Los Angeles beat Seattle 6-2 in the teams鈥� season finale Sunday.
Paxton shut out Los Angeles for six innings, but Young homered off James Pazos during a six-run seventh inning.
鈥淚t always feels good to win,鈥� said Angels manager Mike Scioscia.
Bridwell (10-3) allowed three hits and a walk while striking out three. Acquired in a trade with Baltimore in April, Bridwell finished the year with a 3.64 ERA. The Angels were 18-3 in games Bridwell appeared this season.
鈥淚 think he pitched to his potential,鈥� Scioscia said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think this is a guy that was overwhelmed. He can do so much with the baseball, just getting the opportunity was what he was waiting for.鈥�
Paxton threw six scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and struck out nine in his best start since returning from the disabled list in mid-September. He ended the season 12-5 with a 2.98 ERA.
鈥淚 felt like I was back to a 100 per cent form, feeling really good,鈥� Paxton said. 鈥淚t was good to get that feeling back before the end of the season.鈥�
Los Angeles finished 80-82, falling short of .500 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1992-93. The Angels went into the final week of the season with a chance at the playoffs, but finished losing 11 of 15.
The Mariners (78-84) fell eight games off their 86-76 record from last season.
鈥淚t was a rough season for us, obviously due to injuries and stuff,鈥� Paxton said. 鈥淚 thought we did nice job of hanging in there.
鈥淐oming in next year, I think we have a really good core, and as long as we can stay healthy, we鈥檙e going to be really competitive.鈥�
The Angels opened their seventh-inning rally against Shae Simmons (0-2) with a walk and then a single from Shane Robinson. Seattle failed on both ends of a close double-play attempt on C.J. Cron鈥檚 bouncer that loaded the bases.
Cliff Pennington鈥檚 fly sacrificed in the first run. After a walk that loaded the bases again, Juan Graterol added a second sacrifice fly.
Ben Revere greeted Pazos with a run-scoring single before Young launched his three-run homer. It was Young鈥檚 fourth home run.
Seattle avoided a shutout on Mike Marjama鈥檚 home run off reliever Jose Alvarez. Marjama鈥檚 first career homer came on his ninth career at-bat. Daniel Vogelbach added an RBI double in the ninth.
The Bridwell surprise
Little attention was paid when the Angels bought Bridwell from the Orioles. He was assigned to Triple-A before getting a call-up in mid-June.
鈥淵ou can look at where he came from - the bullpen, the minor leagues and all kinds of things that were happening,鈥� Scioscia said. 鈥淎ll of a sudden he comes here and wins 10 games.
鈥淗e just needed the opportunity. Parker has worked very hard and had a tremendous first shot at the big leagues and we鈥檙e confident it will continue.鈥�
Bridwell said he learned one thing in his four months in the majors.
鈥淭hat I can pitch here. That I belong,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just executing pitches. It鈥檚 more location than velocity in the big leagues. I realized that before I got here, but after pitching for four months, you understand it a little more.鈥�
Paxton of old
The left-hander was off to a terrific season, starting 12-3 with a 2.78 ERA, before he strained his pectoral muscle on Aug. 10 pitching against the Angels. In his first three games back, he was 0-2 with a 6.97 ERA.
Which made his performance Sunday all the more encouraging.
鈥淚t was important,鈥� Paxton said. 鈥淭he last time out against the A鈥檚, I felt like I was really close. And today I made that final jump to get back to where I was before my injury. Getting this one was important for me, going into the off-season, knowing that I was back.鈥�
