SEATTLE — After holding off a late comeback attempt, the Seattle Mariners were simply happy to have stopped their five-game losing streak.
Ketel Marte had two singles and three RBIs in a nine-run second inning, and Seattle beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-8 on Friday night.
“It’s tremendous,” said Mariners center fielder Leonys Martin, who walked twice and scored two runs in the second. “Nine runs in one inning, it’s going to give you a lot of confidence. We’re fighting, man. We’re still alive. Keep fighting. That’s what we’re going to do. Fight every single game.”
Even after building a seven-run lead, the Mariners had a hard time putting this one away. Los Angeles scored four times in the ninth before Edwin Diaz retired star slugger Mike Trout with two on for his 12th save.
“We couldn’t quite put the nail in the coffin,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “But we got the win. We needed a win and we’ll build on that one.”
Nelson Cruz hit his 33rd homer in the eighth for the Mariners, who remained four games behind Baltimore and Detroit for the final AL playoff spot.
Trout said he was fine before the game, two days after he was involved in a multi-vehicle accident on a Los Angeles freeway. He hit a three-run homer his first time up and Jefry Marte added a solo shot for the Angels, giving Brett Oberholtzer (1-1) a 4-0 lead before he took the mound.
Oberholtzer allowed Guillermo Heredia’s RBI double in the bottom of the first, then gave up two singles and walked two batters before being pulled in the second without getting an out.
“Obviously, it’s not the start we were looking for or he was looking for,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
Jhoulys Chacin came on with the bases loaded and promptly walked in a run. The first out of the inning came when Heredia grounded into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, driving in a run. Seattle got a second run on the play on second baseman Gregorio Petit’s throwing error, giving the Mariners a 5-4 lead.
The scoring didn’t end there. Five runs in the inning came with two outs, and the bottom of Seattle’s order did the most damage — the last four hitters in the lineup all reached base twice in the inning.
Marte, batting ninth, led the way and No. 6 hitter Dae-Ho Lee added two singles and two RBIs. The Mariners sent 14 batters to the plate, getting six hits — all singles — and five walks.
The nine runs equaled Seattle’s season high for one inning. The Mariners also scored nine times in the seventh inning of a 16-13 win at San Diego on June 2.
Ariel Miranda (2-1) had a rough start for Seattle, falling behind 3-0 after three batters. A walk and a single led to Trout’s 26th home run before Marte connected with two outs.
Miranda, however, recovered to pitch six innings without allowing another run.
“He hung in there,” Servais said. “If you’d have told me after the first inning we were going to get six out of him, I probably wouldn’t have bought into that one.”
FIRST TIME OUT
Juan Graterol hit a run-scoring double in his first major league at-bat as part of the Angels’ ninth-inning rally. Graterol was called up earlier in the year but did not appear in a game before being sent back down. This was his first big league game after 11 years in the minors. “He’s worked so hard to get here,” Scioscia said. “The guys in the dugout felt great for him.”
ROSTER MOVES
Both teams took advantage of September’s expanded rosters and added players. The Angels recalled Graterol and LHP Cody Ege, and selected the contract of RHP Andrew Bailey from Triple-A Salt Lake. They also activated 3B Yunel Escobar from the 7-day concussion disabled list.
Seattle added OF Ben Gamel, acquired from the Yankees in a trade Wednesday, to the major league roster and recalled C Jesus Sucre from Triple-A Tacoma. Gamel started in right field and batted leadoff.
TROUT’S CRASH
Before the game, Trout said he had no lingering pain. He declined to go into specifics about the accident but said he was lucky it wasn’t more serious.
UP NEXT
Angels: LHP Tyler Skaggs (2-3, 4.75 ERA) will make his eighth start of the season Saturday — and third against the Mariners. Skaggs is 0-1 with an 8.31 ERA in two starts against Seattle.
Mariners: RHP Taijuan Walker (4-9, 4.19) has lost his last three decisions.
