Angels’ offense gets going early in rout of Seattle Mariners

Jared Walsh had been asked a question about himself.

But he couldn’t help but comment on the entire Angels lineup.

“Incredible,” he said after the team’s 5-10 strike against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night, speaking to the team’s television program. “It just shows how strong our line-up is when everyone is healthy. That was pretty special. “

The Angels scored three runs in the first, five in the second and two more in the fourth run to quickly retire at Saturday’s blowout. They outdid their hosts 13-7 and scored 5 1/3 strong innings from the start of pitcher Griffin Canning.

The angels (13-12) opened the scoring in the first. Mike Trout hit a fastball well over the midfield wall with a center cut of 92 mph for two runs. Then, two bats later, Walsh made a solo shot in the other direction.

From there they only got better.

In the second round, José Iglesias and Max Stassi took the lead with singles and moved to second and third with a victim of David Fletcher. Shohei Ohtani hit a ground ball to hit Iglesias and Trout was deliberately run to get the runners into first and second place.

Then the Angels delivered the knockout blow, a 1-2 combo from Anthony Rendon and Walsh.

First, Rendon tied a brace in the left center and scored Stassi and Trout. Walsh made it even better, squeezing his second home run of the game on the next field to the places on the right field.

“I just got a couple of pitches over the plate,” said Walsh after finishing with four career hits. “Wanted to do a little damage to them.”

Angel’s starting pitcher Griffin Canning gave up an inexperienced run and three hits in 5⅓ innings on Saturday. He struck nine and went two.

(Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)

By the time Canning returned to the hill for the end of the second, his start only 12 pitches old, his offense had already given him an 8-0 lead. It would be more than enough if the right-hander gave up just one inexperienced run.

After the right-hander was blown away on his previous start and given up six runs in less than three innings against the Houston Astros last weekend, Canning received simple instructions from manager Joe Maddon on Saturday.

“I just like it when he attacks,” said Maddon. “He just has to really master this fastball so that everything depends on it.”

Highlights from the Angels’ 5-10 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.

Canning did just that against the Mariners (15-13). He knocked out nine batters, the second most in his career, and caused 23 swings and misses, a personal best. At one point he found the zone in 13 straight spaces. And he only spent two walks and only scored three hits at a time.

His fastball was good, making up 12 of those puffs. But his secondary stuff was also strong, especially a slider he used to take out five of his strikers.

Canning’s explanation of Saturday’s success was simple. He just had a better feeling on the hill, from the way he mixed up his pitches, to his decision to bring back an over-the-head settlement for the first time this season.

“Anyone can tell me that my things are good and that I can throw the ball over the middle and it won’t get hit,” said Canning. “But I am a pitcher of feelings. When something feels a little different, it feels like a bigger thing than it could be. For some reason the over-the-head syncs everything for me. “

The Angels made a few more runs in the fourth inning on Rendon’s homer with two runs, which gave them more than enough cushion when the Mariners hit a pair in the eighth and ninth innings. After losing 8-0 in his first two games from an injury earlier in the week, Rendon has scored five hits and seven RBIs in his last four competitions.

But in a cast that includes Trout, Ohtani, and Walsh, he’s hardly the only grazing angel.