ANAHEIM -- Peter Bourjos scored on a wild pitch by Mariners reliever Josh Kinney, sending the Angels to a 6-5 walk-off victory at Angel Stadium on Friday night, capping a game that saw their bullpen step up and the offense -- particularly Mike Trout -- erase a five-run deficit against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez.
With that, the Angels moved to 6-2 on the year against the Mariners and gained ground on the two teams that sit above them in the American League West, moving a half-game back of the A's and six behind the first-place Rangers.
The win comes on the heels of a gut-wrenching 4-6 road trip,which saw the bullpen compile a 10.54 ERA and constantly blow leads that a surging offense had worked hard to build.
With the score tied at 5, Kendrys Morales began the bottom of the ninth with his second double of the night, then made way for Bourjos to pinch-run. After an intentional walk to the switch-hitting Albert Callaspo, Howie Kendrick dropped a sacrifice bunt that put runners on second and third with one out for Erick Aybar, who was intentionally walked to load the bases.
With pinch-hitter Maicer Izturis up, Kinney threw a pitch wide of catcher John Jaso, who saw the ball ricochet off his glove and allow Bourjos to slide in safely with the winning run.
The red-hot Hernandez and a better-lately Ervin Santana canceled each other out by giving up five runs (four earned) each. Santana started off hot and finished strong, but was hampered by a rough third inning in which he gave up two homers, giving him a Major League-leading 28 allowed this season and put the Mariners ahead, 5-0.
Erasing a five-run deficit against a dominant starter who had posted a 1.41 ERA over his last 10 starts seemed like an almost impossible task.
But the Angels' offense -- one that averaged seven runs per game, notched double-digit hits seven times and totaled 23 homers on the just-completed road trip -- came all the way back against Hernandez thanks to their double-play combo and their dynamic young center fielder.
With one out and Kendrick and Aybar on base, Trout hit a three-run homer to left-center field on a full count, giving him the same season total as his age (21) and cutting the Angels' deficit to two.
The Angels then tied it on Trout's sacrifice fly that scored both Kendrick and Aybar. Trout lofted a fly ball near the right-field foul pole that Eric Thames caught. Kendrick scored easy, but Aybar took off towards home as Thames' throw got by second baseman Dustin Ackley.
Since Aybar was trying to score before Ackley's misplay, Trout was credited with two RBIs on the play, giving him a career-high-tying five on the night.
Santana retired 11 of 14 batters after Jaso's homer, and Hisanori Takahashi, Kevin Jepsen and Ernesto Frieri blanked the Mariners over the last 2 2/3 innings.
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