David Fletcher’s hit streak reaches 26 games, Angels beat Mariners 9-4

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — David Fletcher extended the second-longest hitting streak in Angels history to 26 games with three doubles and five RBIs, and Taylor Ward homered and drove in three runs in Los Angeles’ 9-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.

Angels 9, Mariners 4: Box Score

Alex Cobb (7-3) yielded five hits over 6 2/3 innings in another strong start for the Angels, who have won seven of 11. Los Angeles compensated for a four-strikeout night by major league home run leader Shohei Ohtani with homers by Jack Mayfield and Taylor Ward, who also doubled and singled.

Fletcher wasted zero time extending the Angels’ longest hitting streak in 23 years, doubling to left field on Yusei Kikuchi’s first pitch of the game.

The hit broke Fletcher’s tie with Rod Carew’s 25-game streak in 1982. Only Garret Anderson’s 28-game string in 1998 is ahead of him in Angels history. Fletcher’s streak is the longest in the majors since Wilson Ramos’ 26-game streak in 2019.

Fletcher then cleared the bases in the second inning with a powerful double to center. He added a two-run double off the left field wall in the eighth, boosting his average to .454 (49 for 108) during the five-week streak with 13 doubles and 21 RBIs.

David Fletcher. pic.twitter.com/nKjCzIyrhL

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 18, 2021

Mitch Haniger hit a three-run homer off Alex Claudio in the ninth for Seattle.

Kikuchi (6-5) struggled against almost everyone but Ohtani in his first start back from the break, yielding nine hits and seven runs with seven strikeouts over five innings.

Ohtani, his fellow AL All-Star and Hanamaki Higashi High School graduate, went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts against Kikuchi after going 4 for 9 in their previous major league meetings.

Ohtani finished 0 for 5 in his first four-strikeout game since Aug. 30, 2019.

Cobb walked four and struck out six in a resilient effort, maintaining his position as a bright spot in the Angels’ dim rotation. He has won six of his last nine starts, and his ERA dropped below 4.00 for the first time since May during this victory.

Los Angeles had a 5-0 lead before Seattle finally scored in the fifth on Haniger’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly, but Cobb limited the damage to a run.

Ward then slugged his eighth homer in the bottom half, a two-run shot.

We love a good bat flop pic.twitter.com/K5YVA8iWDy

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 18, 2021

REVENGE SERVED LUKEWARM

Mayfield put the Angels up 5-0 in the fourth with a solo homer, his first for the Angels in two stints with the club. The Mariners designated Mayfield for assignment last month just 11 games after they claimed him off waivers from Los Angeles, which claimed him right back.

WE GOT OURSELVES A JACK JACK pic.twitter.com/VG0X7v6SdW

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 18, 2021

Mayfield added a double in the eighth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: OF Jake Fraley was scratched from the starting lineup again due to illness.

Angels: All-Star Jared Walsh fouled a ball off the ground and into his face in the seventh inning, but shook it off.

UP NEXT

Patrick Sandoval (2-3, 3.70 ERA) pitches for Los Angeles against Logan Gilbert (3-2, 3.51), who makes his 11th career start in the series finale. The Mariners have won Gilbert’s last eight starts. Sandoval took a loss in Seattle last week despite throwing a career-best seven innings of two-run ball.

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