Angels rely on long ball in victory over Mariners

The Angels scored all three of their runs via the home run on Friday, but it ended up being enough as they defeated the Mariners, 3-2.

After falling behind 2-0 early on, Justin Upton connected for a two-run homer in the third inning, tying the game at two. For Upton, it’s already his 12th home run of the season, as he’s on pace to hit nearly 30 home runs this season.

An inning later, Jose Rojas hit a solo homer to give the Angels the lead. They’d hold onto this lead the remainder of the way. Over the final four innings they’d record only two hits, but luckily the pitching was able to keep the Mariners in check.

Shohei Ohtani made the start and was excellent for LA. He threw six innings and allowed only two runs. After the third inning, Seattle really couldn’t get anything going against Ohtani. He struck out 10, tying his season-high. Most importantly, his command looked great. Ohtani didn’t issue a walk for the first time all season.

Raisel Iglesias had the rare two-inning save on Friday night. He entered the game in the top of the eighth with the bases loaded and no outs. Iglesias delivered in the clutch for the Halos big-time. He got Mitch Haniger to pop out, and then had back-to-back strikeouts to escape the inning unharmed.

Iglesias pitched the ninth and had a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts.

What a game for the Angels. I know I’ve said it a lot this season, but hopefully this can be the game that turns their season around.