Flexen sharp again, Seager and Haniger homer in 6-5 Mariners win over Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mitch Haniger had three hits, including a two-run homer, and Chris Flexen continued his mastery of the Angels as the Seattle Mariners held off Los Angeles 6-5 on Friday night.

Mariners 6, Angels 5: Box Score

Angels second baseman David Fletcher got two hits and extended his hitting streak to 25 games, tied with Rod Carew for the second-longest in franchise history.

Despite Flexen’s strong showing, Seattle’s bullpen nearly blew it. The Mariners held a 6-2 advantage going into the ninth inning before the Angels took advantage of a pair of errors, scoring three times to close within a run.

With runners at the corners and two outs, Paul Sewald got Phil Gosselin to line out to right field to preserve the win.

Kyle Seager also went deep for the Mariners, who have won four of five. Haniger, who is 9 for 20 in his last five games, finished a triple shy of the cycle.

Flexen (9-3) went seven innings and allowed only one run on six hits with two strikeouts. In his last start against the Angels on July 10 he threw seven shutout innings. Sewald earned his third save after Kendall Graveman gave up three hits and three unearned runs in two-thirds of an inning.

Flexen is 4-0 in his last six starts and has permitted one run or fewer in all but one.

Max Stassi hit his seventh home run of the season for the Angels.

The game was tied at 1 in the third before Seattle broke it open with three runs.

.@LuisTorrens13 wasting no time ⏱️ pic.twitter.com/OQL1hSto7s

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 17, 2021

Haniger lined a one-out double to the left field corner and scored on Ty France’s RBI single. Seager then gave the Mariners a 4-1 advantage when he drove a fastball from Andrew Heaney (5-7) over the wall in right for his 17th homer.

Seags is back from the break with a BANG 💥 pic.twitter.com/3c1ltb34eG

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 17, 2021

Heaney went four innings and gave up four runs on six hits with four strikeouts.

Seattle added a pair in the seventh when Haniger hit a two-run shot to left-center to extend the lead to 6-1.

Just needs a triple now… 👀 pic.twitter.com/gUmxLYhTeU

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 17, 2021

The Mariners got on the board in the first when Luis Torrens’ base hit drove in Haniger. The Angels evened it in the second when Stassi homered to right-center.

Los Angeles pulled to 4-2 in the eighth when Fletcher led off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Jared Walsh’s base hit.

The Angels took advantage of a pair of Mariners errors in the ninth to make it interesting.

Adam Eaton began the rally with a base hit to left with one out and advanced to second when Dylan Moore fielded Luis Rengifo’s infield grounder but was wildly off target on the throw to shortstop J.P. Crawford. After Kean Wong struck out, Fletcher hit a line drive that went off Seager’s glove at third base to drive in Eaton. Fletcher advanced to second when J.P. Crawford wasn’t able to cleanly field the deflection.

Shohei Ohtani then lined a two-run single to bring the Angels to 6-5. Ohtani advanced to third on Walsh’s single to right-center but both were stranded when Gosselin lined out to end the game.

NICE DEBUT

Eaton went 2 for 4 in his Angels debut, including a double in his first at-bat. The veteran outfielder was signed by Los Angeles on Wednesday after he was released earlier in the week by the Chicago White Sox.

THE SKID ENDS

Mariners star prospect Jarred Kelenic, who was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma, snapped an 0-for-42 major league skid with an eighth-inning single.

Kelenic was called up in early May but was sent down last month after batting .096 in 23 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: 1B Evan White (strained right hip flexor) — who has been on the IL since May 14 — has elected to undergo season-ending hip surgery. Manager Scott Servais said the surgery is likely to take place next week. … RHP Casey Sadler (right shoulder impingement) threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout during a rehab appearance for Triple-A Tacoma. … RHP Ryan Weber was claimed off waivers from Milwaukee and will report to Tacoma. INF Wyatt Mathisen was designated for assignment to make room for Weber on the 40-man roster.

Angels: CF Mike Trout (calf strain) still does not have a timetable for when he can begin a rehab assignment because he still is not running at 100%. … 3B Anthony Rendon will miss at least another two weeks as his hamstring strain is healing slower than expected.

UP NEXT

Angels RHP Alex Cobb (6-3, 4.23 ERA) has allowed only one earned run in 13 innings in his two July starts. He will be opposed by Mariners LHP Yusei Kikuchi (6-4, 3.48), who is ninth in the AL in ERA.

Drayer: In Mariners’ 2nd half, impact to come from division and deadline