back to top

Rolling Mariners turn to Robbie Ray vs. Angels

angelsrising.info

There will be plenty of storylines when the Los Angeles Angels open a four-game series Friday night against the host Seattle Mariners.

This will be the first meeting between the teams since a June 26 brawl in Anaheim, Calif., after the Mariners’ Jesse Winker was hit by a pitch. A dozen players and coaches were disciplined, including a 10-game ban for Angels interim manager Phil Nevin.

The Angels are coming off a history-making, 8-7 loss to the Oakland A’s on Thursday, when they became the first team ever to hit seven solo homers, including two by Shohei Ohtani, and score no other runs, according to STATS.

“I guess they always say solo home runs don’t beat you, but you feel like if you hit seven, you might,” Nevin said. “It didn’t work out for us.”

The Mariners are coming off two wins in a three-game series against the New York Yankees, and they turned their season around after the Angels’ last trip to Seattle on June 16-19.

Los Angeles, which just a week earlier had snapped a 14-game losing streak, took four of five games, winning the final two by shutout.

The Mariners went on to win 22 of their next 25 games, including 14 in a row heading into the All-Star break, to move into wild-card playoff contention in the American League.

The Mariners did it despite Winker, J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodriguez serving suspensions for the brawl, plus a stint on the injured list by Ty France.

Rodriguez, an All-Star like France, is on the injured list after getting hit on the right wrist by a pitch on Saturday.

“Our turnaround here has been driven by a number of different things, but I’ve said it from day one: Our guys come in and they prepare and they’re ready to compete,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I don’t care who’s on the other side coming after us. They’re ready to go.”

Left-hander Robbie Ray (8-8, 4.11 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday for the Mariners. Ray had a sterling seven-start stretch, flashing the form that helped him win the AL’s Cy Young Award with Toronto last season, before being battered in his past two outings against AL West-leading Houston — giving up 10 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.

“I just need to flush these last two starts,” Ray said. “I know I’m a good pitcher. The stretch that I had right before facing these guys was pretty much as good as it gets. So just put it behind me, get back to the grind.”

Ray is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in two career starts against the Angels. He posted Seattle’s lone win in that five-game series in June, going seven innings and allowing one run on three hits, with 10 strikeouts in an 8-1 decision.

The Angels are set to counter on Friday with left-hander Patrick Sandoval (3-7, 3.61).

Sandoval is 0-3 with a 2.83 ERA in six previous appearances against Seattle. He made back-to-back starts against the Mariners in June, allowing just one run in each outing, but he didn’t get a decision in either game.

Angels outfielder Mike Trout (rib-cage inflammation, back) began rotational exercises this week, but there is no update on when he’ll be able to swing a bat.


www.yardbarker.com

Latest articles

Astros turn to Cristian Javier in bid to...

The Houston Astros were operating from a position of depth when they shipped right-hander Jake...

After comeback falls short, Mariners face Angels in...

The Seattle Mariners can only hope their Saturday doubleheader against the visiting Angels goes better...

Cubs to release Jason Heyward at end of...

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer spoke to reporters, including Jesse Rogers of ESPN,...

Mariners look to continue year-long dominance of Rangers

The Seattle Mariners have won 32 of their last 45 games to move to nine...
angelsrising.info

More like this

Assessing the Chicago White Sox’s offseason outlook

Aside from a new manager, the White Sox don’t seem destined for a major...

Offseason outlook for the Los Angeles Angels

Despite the continued excellence of Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, the Angels had another...

Previewing the 2022-23 free agent class: Designated hitter

Obviously, any hitter is capable of serving as a DH. Many of the players...

World Series Houston Astros vs. Philadelphia

The Phillies are red-hot, but the Astros are even hotter. Houston has yet to...

Mariners could be in position to deal from

Going into next year, the Mariners have considerable depth in their rotation. Luis Castillo...

Guardians have some tough middle infield decisions to make

Two months ago, I wrote about Andres Gimenez’s 2022 breakout and how it was a...