Angels-Mariners: Still Perfect Palmer Notches L.A. Win

Matt Palmer needed a lot of help from the offense and the bullpen, but he gave the Los Angeles Angels a chance to win yet again. His teammates responded, lifting him to his fifth victory to zero losses as the Angels beat the Seattle Mariners for the second night in row.

The Angels pulled to within three games of the first-place Rangers and moved two games over .500 for the season. They seem to have righted the ship a bit after last week’s debacle in Arlington.

The offense got started early against Seattle ace Felix Hernandez. The first four batters reached base: Chone Figgins led the game off with a single, Maicer Izturis drew a walk, and Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter followed with back-to-back RBI singles to give the Angels a 2-0 lead.

But that advantage was gone by the second inning. Palmer allowed a solo shot to Ken Griffey Jr. in the first, and Ronnie Cedeno touched the L.A. hurler for a two-run homer in the bottom of the second to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead.

The Angels tied the game in the fourth on Howie Kendrick’s RBI single, but the Mariners retook the lead on Ichiro’s RBI double in the bottom half of the same frame.

Then, the Angels responded immediately afterwards with a little luck and two runs, the first on a wild pitch from King Felix. They took a 5-4 lead when a tailor-made double play ball from Mike Napoli ducked under the glove of Jose Lopez and rolled into center field.

Los Angeles extended the lead and chased Hernandez off the mound with Abreu’s two-out double in the sixth inning. The Mariners clawed back to within one after Palmer allowed a lead off double to Kenji Johjima, who would later come around to score, in the sixth inning.

But the Angels bullpen took over from there, as Bulger, Scot Shields, and Brian Fuentes worked four innings of scoreless relief. Hopefully, it was a sign that the bullpen is getting back on track.

Personal Thoughts on the Game

I thought this was going to be a tough one for the Halos. The Mariners clearly had the edge in the pitching matchup, but the offense touched Hernandez for six runs and the pitching staff made it hold up.

The pendulum swings back to the Angels tonight in regards to the battle on the mound, as Ervin Santana goes against Chris Jakubauskas.

The bullpen was really phenomenal in this past contest. Bulger, Shields, and Fuentes combined for four perfect innings, with nine of the twelve outs coming via the strikeout.  Fuentes struck out the side in the ninth.

Howie Kendrick had two hits, again showing signs of life. Unfortunately, he was inexplicably double off of first base when Chone Figgins hit a looping liner in the eighth inning. Baby steps, I guess.