Arozarena’s two-run double caps decisive sixth as Mariners beat Angels 7-3

Three innings, three runs, no wasted motion

Seattle did not need a home run to take hold of this game. The Mariners opened the scoring in the second when Weston Wilson grounded out to third and Cole Young came home, then added two more in the third on a Cal Raleigh single that scored Randy Arozarena and a Josh Naylor groundout that brought in Dominic Canzone.

That early stretch set the tone for a lineup that kept producing traffic. Raleigh finished 3-for-5 with an RBI, Arozarena added the game’s biggest extra-base hit later on, Young reached three times with a hit and two walks and scored twice, and Jhonny Pereda went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run. Even with Julio Rodríguez held hitless in five at-bats, Seattle still piled up 12 hits, four walks and a hit batter.

The pitching matched the offence’s steady start. Logan Gilbert worked four hitless innings, struck out eight and issued one walk over 61 pitches. Seattle’s staff finished with 12 strikeouts and never allowed the Angels to string together enough offence until the late innings. For most of the day, Los Angeles was chasing counts and outs at the same time.

The error that changed the afternoon

The Angels finally got on the board in the sixth when Vaughn Grissom’s sacrifice fly to right scored Bryce Teodosio and cut the deficit to 3-1. At that point, the game still sat within reach. Los Angeles had limited Seattle to three runs through five innings, and one clean frame on the other side might have kept the pressure on the home club.

Instead, the bottom of the sixth became the inning that decided everything. Young scored when Denzer Guzman’s throw on Wilson’s grounder to third sailed away, allowing Wilson to reach safely and Pereda to move all the way to third. Arozarena followed with a double to left that scored Pereda and Wilson, stretching the lead from two runs to five in a matter of batters.

That sequence landed hard because the Angels had done enough earlier to stay in contact. Yusei Kikuchi struck out seven over five innings and allowed three earned runs, but the next inning got away from Los Angeles. Trevor Martin was charged with three runs in one inning, though none were earned, and the Angels’ only error wound up carrying real scoreboard weight. In a 3-1 game, that kind of extra opening is usually all a club like Seattle needs.

Our take: Seattle’s depth showed, and the Angels paid for thin margins

Los Angeles still produced one loud swing. Jose Siri’s two-run homer to left in the eighth, with Zach Neto aboard, trimmed the score to 6-3 and gave the Angels their only extra-base hit of the game. Seattle answered immediately in the bottom half when Leo Rivas scored on a Sammy Peralta wild pitch, restoring the four-run cushion before Cooper Criswell handled the ninth.

The useful part of this result for Seattle is that it did not depend on one star carrying the entire offence. The Mariners scored in four different innings, recorded 12 hits and got contributions from the middle and lower parts of the order as well as the top. Arozarena supplied the signature blow, but Raleigh’s three-hit game, Young’s two-run day and Pereda’s on-base work kept the innings moving. If there is a note for improvement, it is simply that a 12-hit, four-walk afternoon can sometimes be turned into even more than seven runs when the finishing touch is cleaner.

For the Angels, the outline is blunter. They managed six hits, struck out 12 times and finished with just one extra-base hit, Siri’s homer. Their other run came on a sacrifice fly, which meant they were already operating with very little margin for error before Guzman’s throwing mistake helped open the decisive Seattle inning. When an offence posts a .194 average for the day, every missed chance and every defensive giveaway becomes more costly. The Mariners were not flawless, but they were broader, steadier and far more able to cash in when the game tilted their way.

Scoring moments

1. 2nd Inning

   We. Wilson grounded out to third, Young scored.

2. 3rd Inning

   Raleigh singled to right, Arozarena scored, Canzone to third.

3. 3rd Inning

   Naylor grounded out to second, Canzone scored, Raleigh to second.

4. 6th Inning

   Grissom hit sacrifice fly to right, Teodosio scored, Neto to third.

5. 6th Inning

   Young scored on error, We. Wilson safe at first on throwing error by third baseman Guzman, Pereda safe at third on error.

6. 6th Inning

   Arozarena doubled to left, Pereda scored and We. Wilson scored.

7. 8th Inning

   Siri homered to left (360 feet), Neto scored.

8. 8th Inning

   Rivas scored on Peralta wild pitch.

9. 8th Inning

   Rivas scored on Peralta wild pitch.