Sports

O'Malley's 3-Run HR Caps Seattle's 8-6 Win Over Angels

August 6, 2016 / 9:53 PM PDT / KCAL News

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shawn O'Malley capped Seattle's comeback with a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Mariners rallied from a four-run deficit for an 8-6 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.

A few hours after the Mariners retired Ken Griffey Jr.'s No. 24 during an emotional pregame ceremony, O'Malley sent another charge through Safeco Field. O'Malley turned on an 0-1 pitch from Deolis Guerra and drove it into the right-field seats for his second home run of the season.

Moments later, O'Malley made a backhanded stop deep in the hole at shortstop to get Andrelton Simmons for the first out of the eighth inning and briefly Safeco Field began chanting O'Malley's name.

Seattle scored four times in the seventh thanks to three straight walks by reliever Jose Valdez (0-1), just called up from the minors. Leonys Martin's sacrifice fly pulled Seattle within 6-5 before O'Malley's shot.

Seattle continued to rely on the long ball for the bulk of its runs. Guillermo Heredia hit the first home run of his career leading off the third inning and Franklin Gutierrez added a two-run shot in the fifth. Robinson Cano's RBI double in the first and Martin's sacrifice fly were the only runs not scored off a long ball.

Mike Trout tried to upstage the celebration surrounding Griffey with a three-run homer in the first and an RBI triple in the third while the Angels built a 5-1 lead. Trout's 21st homer marked his second straight game with a three-run shot in the first that the Angels pitching staff failed to protect.

Seattle missed an opportunity in the sixth inning by leaving the bases loaded. Reliever Mike Morin fell behind 3-0 to Gutierrez, who was given the freedom to swing and popped up to shortstop for the second out. Cano then popped out to right field to end the threat.

Valdez (0-1) got Nelson Cruz for the first out of the seventh then lost his command with three straight walks. Guerra got Martin's fly ball for the second out but missed his spot to O'Malley.

Drew Storen (2-3) got the final out of the seventh to pick up the victory and Edwin Diaz pitched the ninth for his fourth save.

ROSTER SHUFFLE

Angels: RHP Tim Lincecum was designated for assignment on Saturday after giving up six runs in the first inning a night earlier. Lincecum was 2-6 with a 9.16 ERA in nine starts with the Angels.

Mariners: Seattle made a pair of trades, acquiring Arquimedes Caminero from Pittsburgh and switch-pitcher Pat Venditte from Toronto for players to be named later. Caminero is expected to report to Seattle on Monday, while Venditte is headed for Triple-A.

UP NEXT

Angels: Matt Shoemaker (6-11) will go for his second straight victory. Over his last 15 starts, Shoemaker has a 2.85 ERA.

Mariners: James Paxton (3-5) looks to build on his last start when he allowed one run in eight innings against Boston but ended up being left out of the decision.