The Sports Xchange
Aug 13, 2017
SEATTLE -- Parker Bridwell pitched six strong innings to avenge his lone major league loss as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-2 Sunday afternoon at Safeco Field.
C.J. Cron homered for the Angels (61-58), who completed a four-game sweep in which they moved into sole possession of the American League's second and final wild-card playoff berth.
Trailing 4-1, the Mariners threatened in the ninth off Angels reliever Keynan Middleton, the rookie right-hander who had earned victories the previous two nights.
Robinson Cano led off by legging out an infield single and Nelson Cruz followed with a double into left-center field, the ball rolling all the way to the wall. After Kyle Seager struck out, Jarrod Dyson slapped a run-scoring single to left field.
Middleton, an Oregon native with friends and family in attendance, responded by getting Guillermo Heredia to fly out to shallow left field and Leonys Martin to fly out to right. Middleton earned his second save of the season.
Bridwell (7-1), a rookie right-hander acquired in an April 17 trade with Baltimore, allowed one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out two.
The Angels improved to 10-1 in games in which Bridwell pitches. The only loss came June 30 against the Mariners at Angel Stadium, when Bridwell allowed a career-high five earned runs on 11 hits in six innings of a 10-0 defeat.
Seattle scored its lone run Sunday off Bridwell in the first inning. Yonder Alonso walked with one out, moved to third on a double by Cano and came home on a sacrifice fly by Cruz, who leads the AL in RBIs with 94
Bridwell retired the side in order in the second and third innings and overcame leadoff singles in each of his final three innings. He got out of each of those situations by retiring the next three batters after the leadoff hits.
The Mariners' beleaguered bullpen, which allowed 13 runs in the first three games of the series, could have used a lengthy start by Ariel Miranda.
But the left-hander failed to deliver.
Miranda (7-6), who hasn't won since June 30, was in trouble from the beginning.
Cameron Maybin doubled to the wall in right-center on Miranda's first pitch of the game, then Mike Trout walked. Miranda got out of the jam and stranded two more runners in the second.
With one out in the third, Miranda fell behind in the count 2-0 to Cron, who then launched a 415-foot homer off the facade of the second deck in left field to tie the score at 1-1. It was Cron's ninth homer of the season.
Miranda escaped after a leadoff walk in the fourth, but never made it out of the fifth.
After a walk to Trout, the third leadoff walk issued by Miranda in five innings, Albert Pujols singled -- the ball glancing off of the glove of diving Seattle left fielder Heredia. After Cron struck out, Andrelton Simmons lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Angels a 2-1 lead.
A walk to Jefry Marte spelled the end for Miranda, who had been 4-0 in five previous starts against the Angels. Miranda walked six and struck out six in 4 2/3 innings. Of his 96 pitches, only 50 were strikes.
Left-hander James Pazos came on and walked Kole Calhoun to load the bases. Martin Maldonado fouled off a couple of two-strike pitches before lining a two-run single to left-center, making it 4-1.
NOTES: The Angels swept a four-game series in Seattle for the first time since May 24-27, 2012. ... Mariners 2B Robinson Cano hit his 504th career double in the first inning, tying him with Roberto Alomar for 59th in major league history. With three more doubles, Cano will pass Alomar, Tony Perez and Babe Ruth, three Hall of Famers... The Mariners open a three-game series Monday against Baltimore at Safeco Field. Right-hander Yovani Gallardo (5-7, 5.38 ERA) is scheduled to start against his former team, facing Orioles RHP Kevin Gausman (8-8, 5.21). ... The Angels have Monday off before a two-game interleague series in Washington. LHP Tyler Skaggs (1-2, 3.63) is scheduled to pitch Tuesday for L.A.