Jose Suarez threw 5 robust innings, Brandon Marsh accounted for all the offense with a two-run double, and so the Los Angeles Angels landed a serious blow to Seattle’s postseason hopes by defeating the Mariners 2-1 on Friday night.
Seattle dropped into a bind with Toronto, the two of them one game behind Boston in the race for the second wild card in the American League. The Mariners had won 10 of their last 11 and began the day knowing the scope of the Angels would essentially constrain a sudden death round game next Monday.
Angels Finished The Night With A Brilliant Win
They finished the night again requiring help from others to end their 20-year postseason dry season.
Kyle Seager began the Seattle ninth with a double; however, Raisel Iglesias recuperated to get Luis Torrens, Abraham Toro, and Jarred Kelenic for his 34th save.
Suarez (8-8) was phenomenal for five innings, the main harm coming on a solitary by Toro and RBI twofold from Kelenic. He closed the season by winning three of his final four decisions after joining the Angels rotation in July.
The combo of Mike Mayers, Jose Quijada, Steve Cishek, and Iglesias held off Seattle for the last four innings and sent Seattle’s first full-arena sellout horde since 2019 — more than 44,000 — home disheartened.
Quijada entered and struck out Kelenic swinging at what would’ve been ball four with the infield playing back and surrendering the tying run. Tom Murphy struck out on four pitches and Dylan Moore called out looking on a marginal 3-2 pitch.
The top four hitters in Seattle’s order — J.P. Crawford, Ty France, Mitch Haniger, and Seager — had a terrible night being able to get 2for 15 with three strikeouts and hitting into two double plays combined. The Seattle chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America held its yearly awards before Friday night’s game. France won player of the year, Chris Flexen the pitcher of the year, and Crawford the “Unsung Hero” award.
