Cal Raleigh homers twice as Mariners pummel Angels in series opener

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Sure, the impressive offensive production came against a pair of inexperienced pitchers that likely wouldn’t be pitching for many teams in MLB.

But given the Mariners’ endless search to find sustainable success on offense and their propensity for striking out and struggling against pitchers like the ones they faced on Thursday night at Angel Stadium, an aggressive approach early stayed aggressive throughout the game and the results still count the same and are fully embraced.

And, well, trouncing the Angels, a division rival, and holding them scoreless at home is never a bad thing.

The Mariners delivered perhaps their most dominant overall performance of the season, rolling to an 11-0 rout to open the four-game series leading into the All-Star break.

“Really good ballgame tonight,” manager Scott Servais said. “It was a great way to start this series, and we need it to continue and finish really strong before the break.”

For the second time in three games, Cal Raleigh hit homers from each side of the plate and drove in four runs. Playing less than 20 miles from where he grew up, J.P. Crawford added three hits and drove in three runs, including a two-run homer. The 11 runs scored were a season high, while the 15 hits were the second-most they’ve had in a game this season.

Meanwhile, Luis Castillo didn’t squander the inordinate amount of run support. He delivered a second straight quality start, while relievers Mike Baumann and Eduard Bazardo gave the rest of the relievers in the bullpen a needed night off, combining to work the final three innings and secure Seattle’s 10th shutout of the season. The 10 combined shutouts are the most in the AL and second-most in MLB behind the Braves’ 11.

The Mariners have opened the road trip with three wins in a row. The last time they won three straight was when the they won four straight games from June 14-18.

The Mariners made the major-league debut of Angels prospect Jack Kochanowicz a miserable experience, beating him up for five runs in three innings, including four in the first inning.

With most of the Angels’ opening-day rotation either injured or underperforming to the point of being sent down to the minors, the young right-hander, who was rated as the No. 7 prospect in one of the worst farm systems in MLB, was called up to make take the place of rookie Davis Daniel and was the 12^th different pitcher to start a game for the Angels.

Crawford greeted him with a leadoff double that bounced over the wall in right field. Josh Rojas scored Crawford with a hard single to right field.

The hits continued as Raleigh singled up the middle. Kochanowicz got momentary help from his defense when center fielder Mickey Moniak threw out Rojas as he tried to go first to third.

But it didn’t stop the parade of base runners. Julio Rodriguez singled to center to make it four consecutive hits to the start the game. Luke Raley took a breaking ball off his leg to load the bases.

The Mariners made it 2-0 when Luis Guillorme made a throwing error on Ty France’s ground ball to third. Jorge Polanco punctuated the inning with a line drive into the left-center gap that scored a pair of runs for a 4-0 lead. Polanco would add another single in the game and now has five hits in his last three games.

Staked to a 4-0 lead before he’d even thrown a pitch, Castillo delivered a strong outing, pitching six scoreless. He allowed only four hits with two walks and five strikeouts to pick up wins in back-to-back starts and improve to 8-9 on the season while lowering his ERA to 3.53.

“I go out there with the same plan,” Castillo said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. “It doesn’t matter if the game [is] close or not. You can never be too confident when you go out there. So regardless of the score, I’m going to go out there and stick to the same plan.”

After giving up a one-out single to Moniak and a double to Zach Neto to put runners on second and third in the second inning, Castillo came back to strike out Luis Guillorme and get Anthony Rendon to fly out to center. It was the start of a stretch during which Castillo retired 13 of the next 15 batters he faced.

After singling off Kochanowicz in the first inning, Raleigh led off the third inning with his 18th homer of the season. He turned on a 95-mph sinker down the middle, yanking it toward the right-field foul pole.

“Usually when I hit them there, they hook foul,” he said.

This ball, which had a 113-mph exit velocity, stayed inside the pole for a 5-0 lead.

With Kochanowicz struggling, the Angels went to Kenny Rosenberg in long relief. Called up before the game, he’d spent the entire season at Triple-A Salt Lake.

He didn’t fare much better. Crawford smashed a line drive off the wall in right field above the yellow line for a two-run homer in the fourth inning.

The Mariners turned the game into a rout in the sixth inning. Crawford singled home a run and Raleigh smashed a line drive into the left-field seats for a three-run homer. The ball had an exit velocity of 113 mph.

For the third time in his career, and the second time on this road trip, Raleigh homered from both sides of the plate. The last time a switch-hitter had accomplished the feat within a three game span was the Angels’ Jeff DaVanon, who did it in back-to-back games on June 3-4, 2003, in Montreal.

“What excites me most is that when he turns around and goes right-handed, it has been just as impactful as it is left-handed,” Servais said. “So the manager doesn’t know which way to go with him there. You can’t take it for granted. It’s really hard to do that.”

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