Mariners Lose Big to Angels in Anaheim, 8-3

In the unofficial second half of the season the Mariners mustered what they could manage to take it on the road; they faced off against the Anaheim Angels in the first of a short four game series Thursday night. The Mariners needed to take a break, regroup, shuffle the lineup – essentially figure out a way, anyway, which would allow them to jump out of last place in the AL west. Unfortunately, what Seattle brought to the table wasn’t enough to bring the win, losing to Los Angeles 8-3. The M’s, who went into the All-Star break 2-9 and at the bottom of the American League, were looking to gain some confidence in Anaheim but went down without a fight in the first. Pineiro, who spent his first seven years in the MLB pitching for Seattle, picked off the Mariners’ first attempt one by one. The Angels, however, had no such problems.

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Erick Aybar caught a single off Fister, and Anaheim got the first run of the game with an RBI by Abreu. Lopez led off the second with a double that went nowhere, but it almost looked as if Seattle was gaining momentum. The deceptive resurgence fizzled out, however, and the Angels claimed five hits off Fister during their turn at the plate. A double RBI by Fredrick put Los Angeles in the lead 4-0 heading into the third. With bases loaded in the fifth, Ichiro popped a huge double to right field, clearing the bases and actually getting the Mariners into a respectable scoring range – ending the inning 4-3. Fister, who is 3-4 with a 3.09 ERA, saw his fourth consecutive loss with twelve hits and six runs, dragging his mediocre effort all the way into the sixth. Brian Sweeney stepped in for Fister in the sixth, but appeared not to have any better luck than his teammate. Abreu landed a two-run single off Sweeney, successfully crushing any hopes and dreams of a win Seattle may have harbored at the top of the inning. The Angels closed out the inning, securely, 7-3. Mathis got an RBI past the Mariners’ newly acquired pitcher, Jamey Wright, in the seventh. The Angels took this lead all the way to the end, picking up the win 8-3. Let us hope this game is not indicative of the Mariners’ performance in this season’s second half.

By: Shalan Moore
MLBCenter.com Staff Writer

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