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 "Absolutely," he said with conviction after the Angels squandered
another opportunity with a 10-1 drubbing at the hands of the Seattle
Mariners.
The Angels couldn't capitalize on a chance to put themselves back in
the thick of the American League West race Tuesday night, when a
six-run seventh inning from the Mariners put them out of their
misery well before the final pitch.
Coming off one of the most frustrating losses of the season after
the Houston Astros scored five two-out runs in the top of the ninth
Sunday, the Angels never found a groove Monday night at Safeco
Field. Seattle (70-75) used a three-run second inning to take an
early lead, then piled on with the six runs in the seventh.
The result was the Angels' second consecutive loss. Los Angeles
(72-71) remained 4 1/2 games behind Houston in the division while
falling a full four games back in the race for the second AL wild
card. The Astros lost 5-3 to the Texas Rangers, who climbed within a
half-game of the division lead.
"There's a finite amount of games you're looking at," said Angels
manager Mike Scioscia, whose remaining 19 games includes three-game
series with both Houston and Texas. "I wouldn't say the losses feel
any different now. We don't have our heads buried in the sand. It's
still there for us. If you look at where we want to get to, we're
going to have every opportunity to control our own destiny."
Right fielder Seth Smith drove in three of the Mariners' runs, while
second baseman Robinson Cano added two RBIs on a seventh-inning
double.
Cano's one-out double with runners on the corners turned a three-run
lead into a 6-1 advantage. Left fielder Mark Trumbo followed with an
RBI double to help break the game open.
Mariners starter Taijuan Walker (11-8) allowed just one run on four
hits over seven innings. He struck out seven without issuing a walk.
"You try to eliminate as many bad starts as you can," said Walker,
who got touched up for six hits and six runs over three innings in a
loss to Texas his last time out. "It's all how you come back the
next start after a bad one, and I thought I was pretty good today."
Los Angeles managed just five hits in the loss, while the Mariners
had 12 hits as they cruised to their largest margin of victory of
the season.
Angels starter Garrett Richards (13-11) struggled so badly in the
second inning that Scioscia had the bullpen working, but Richards
was able to get through the three-run frame and put in five innings.
He allowed four runs on five hits and four walks while striking out
six.
"He had trouble minimizing the damage," Scioscia said. "He gave (the
Mariners) some good counts to hit on, and those guys took advantage
of it."
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Seattle did most of its damage in the seventh, which saw 11 Mariners
batters come to the plate while seeing eight reach base. The frame
included three doubles.
Smith hit a second-inning home run and a fifth-inning double to
drive in three runs as Seattle jumped out to a 4-1 lead.
Los Angeles opened the second inning with back-to-back singles from
left fielder David Murphy and first baseman C.J. Cron, resulting in
the first run of the game when Murphy scored on a double play for a
1-0 Angels lead.
The Mariners responded with three runs in the bottom of the second.
Smith drove in the first two runs with his 11th home run on a 2-0
pitch from Richards, giving Seattle a 2-1 lead. Trumbo followed that
with a single and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch as
the Mariners went ahead 3-1.
Smith drove in his third run of the night with a two-out double in
the fifth, giving Seattle a 4-1 lead before the floodgates opened in
the seventh.
"This was a tough one, but we've still got two more against these
guys," Calhoun said after going 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts in
the loss. "We've got to be ready."
NOTES: Seattle OF/SS Brad Miller (neck spasms) was not in the lineup
Monday but was available to pinch-run, manager Lloyd McClendon said.
Miller was a late scratch for Sunday's game after sleeping awkwardly
on his neck. ... LHPs Hector Santiago of the Angels and Charlie
Furbush of the Mariners were among the Roberto Clemente Award
nominees that were announced Monday. ... Angels C Jett Bundy made
his major-league debut in the eighth inning. Bundy, a Southern
California native, had played more than 400 minor-league games
before finally taking the field as a defensive replacement and
getting one at-bat in the ninth. ... The Mariners had a momentary
scare in the second inning when center fielder Shawn O'Malley got
hit in the head by a throw from Angels catcher Carlos Perez.
O'Malley was trying to get back to second base when Perez's throw
tagged him in the left temple after his helmet came off. O'Malley
remained in the dirt for several seconds before a trainer checked on
him and cleared the rookie to stay in the game.
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reserved.]
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