ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Seattle Mariners kept finding themselves on the wrong side of 0-2 counts against Los Angeles Angels starter Andrew Heaney.
Tom Murphy and Domingo Santana were still able to make Heaney pay.
Murphy hit a three-run homer, Santana added two solo homers and the Mariners beat the Angels 6-2 on Friday night.
All three homers came on two-strike counts, with Murphy’s landing in the Seattle bullpen in left field and giving the Mariners a 5-1 lead in the sixth inning.
“Credit to our guys, we just keep battling in there, and certainly Santana has got all kinds of power, as Murph does as well,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “They got pitches and didn’t miss them.”
Murphy believed Heaney would try to get another fastball past him, the same pitch the left-hander had so often used to strike out 10 of his Mariners teammates. With an idea of what was coming, Murphy turned Heaney’s final pitch of the night into his fifth homer and helped propel Seattle to a much-needed win.
“He threw me, what, probably nine straight fastballs in three different at-bats,” Murphy said. “Just kind of shortened up a little bit, saw the fastball in and put a good swing on it.”
Marco Gonzalez (6-6) allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings and Mac Williamson drove in a run to help the short-handed Mariners to their fifth win in the past 22 games.
Santana put the Mariners ahead 2-1 on a shot to right-center in the fifth inning off Heaney (0-1), who allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings.
“He was still strong, but they did their job,” Los Angeles manager Brad Ausmus said of Heaney, who became the first Angels pitcher with at least eight strikeouts in each of his first three starts of the season since Nolan Ryan in 1978.
Kole Calhoun had a solo homer in the second and Tommy La Stella drove in a run in the sixth, but the Angels were not able to grab their third straight win over the Mariners.
Santana added another shot in the seventh to make it 6-2 for his fifth career multi-homer game. Santana also had an RBI for the third straight game, adding five of his team-leading 47 during the streak.
However, it was Santana’s work on defense that had teammates and coaches buzzing when he wrestled a pop fly by Jonathan Lucroy down the first base line away from a fan, ending up with the the ball and the fan’s glove on top of his own.
“That was the first time I’ve ever seen that where he was kind of wrestling the fan for the ball,” Murphy said. “Kind of reminded me what he would be like as a safety out there, you know, trying to get it away from a wide receiver.”
“NOT NORMAL INJURIES”
OF Mitch Haniger was placed on the 10-day injured list after undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured testicle Friday. Haniger sustained the injury Thursday against Houston when he was struck by a foul ball that bounced up and hit him.
Servais did not have a timetable for Haniger’s recovery but said “I can’t imagine he’s going to be doing anything for a couple weeks.”
It is the second unusual injury in Seattle’s outfield this week. Braden Bishop landed on the injured list due to a lacerated spleen sustained when he was hit by a pitch in the minors. Bishop underwent surgery to repair his spleen and has been released from a local hospital, Servais said.
Servais described the injuries to Haniger and Bishop as “crazy” and “something you got to deal with,” something the Mariners have gotten used to with 11 players currently on the injured list.
“It doesn’t do any good to get down about it,” Servais said. “I know the team in the other dugout, they don’t care. This isn’t the league where you sit around and feel sorry for anybody else. Everyone has their own issues to deal with so we’ll deal with it best we can.”
NO ANSWERS
The Angels rocked Gonzalez for 10 runs in 4 2/3 innings during a 13-3 win on Sunday. Gonzalez more than responded to end a five-start losing streak, the longest of his career.
“I don’t know that if we solved him a week ago or if he just had an off day,” Ausmus said. “And if we did solve him, we clearly forgot what it was.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: 2B Dee Gordon (wrist) started a rehab assignment at Triple-A Tacoma on Friday and could rejoin the team next week in Oakland. . RHP Felix Hernandez (shoulder stiffness), RHP Hunter Strickland (strained lat), and RHP Sam Tuivailala (Achilles) will each throw bullpen sessions on Sunday. . RHP Connor Sadzeck (elbow) will undergo further tests after feeling soreness while playing catch.
Angels: C Kevan Smith (concussion) was reinstated from the injured list Friday. Smith was struck in the face mask by a foul ball on May 21. C Dustin Garneau was designated for assignment in a corresponding move. . LF Justin Upton (turf toe) started a rehab assignment at Single-A Inland Empire on Friday as a designated hitter.
