Los Angeles @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 5, 2010 ) LA Angels 11, Seattle 2
A freak injury to its best hitter has led to some freakish play by the Los Angeles Angels.
Last Saturday, the Angels lost Kendry Morales perhaps for the rest of the season when he landed awkwardly after jumping on home plate to celebrate his walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning.
Morales was batting .290 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs. But instead of lamenting the loss and heading in a downward spiral, the Angels have responded by winning six of seven and averaging seven runs. They have batted .290, scored 49 runs, hit 11 homers and 20 doubles since the injury.
Of course, playing the Seattle Mariners helps pad those numbers.
That included Saturday’s 11-2 victory that quickly became a blowout when the Angels scored 10 runs off three relievers in the sixth and seventh innings. The Mariners also issued 10 walks. Of their 33 losses, Saturday’s might have been the Mariners’ ugliest.
About the only positive was that Ichiro Suzuki scored his 1,000th career run and got two hits for his 28th multi-hit game, the most in the majors. In eight games this season, he is batting .484 (15-for-31) against the Angels with six stolen bases.
The Angels (30-28) will try to sweep the three-game series this afternoon at Safeco Field, sending former Mariner Joel Pineiro (3-6, 5.16) against Jason Vargas (4-2, 2.92).
In another oddity, the Angels will try to improve to 7-0 when bench coach Ron Roenicke serves as interim manager. He will manage for the second straight day with Mike Scioscia attending his daughter’s high school graduation in California.
Second baseman Howie Kendrick has 12 RBIs, including eight against the Mariners, since Morales has been out. Outfielder Torii Hunter is 10-for-24 (.417) with nine RBIs.
Pineiro, drafted by the Mariners in 1997, will be making his first start against them after two relief appearances with Boston in 2007.
Pineiro might need more big innings like the ones the Angels had Saturday. He is 0-2 with a 9.53 ERA in his last three starts. He allowed six runs – four in the fifth inning - on 10 hits in a 6-3 loss to Kansas City on Tuesday.
Vargas has allowed three runs or fewer in nine of 10 starts and has the 10th-lowest ERA in the American League. He limited Minnesota to one run on six hits in seven innings Tuesday.
In a May 9 start against the Angels, the left-hander allowed one unearned run on four hits in 7 1/3 innings. He is 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA against the Angels.