Ty France is not the type to do big celebrations and show emotion over his accomplishments. On the contrary, he keeps it for his failures.
But on a pleasant Friday night with 40,001 fans filling T-Mobile Park, the Mariners somehow managed to take a four-run lead into the seventh inning and become mired in their drama typical of the end of a round and a close match.
It had already been an emotional start to the day when the Mariners fired offensive coordinator Brant Brown due to a lack of production from the offense.
So when France crushed a 3-2 changeup from left-hander Matt Moore, confidently watching what he knew was a home run from the start turn into a majestic explosion over the upper deck railing in left field, he made a final delivery. -end of bat flip and prolonged wink to his teammates.
It was a mixture of arrogance and exasperation, as if to say, “Enough is enough. This game needs to be done.
France’s seventh homer of the season put the Mariners ahead by one in the bottom of the eighth inning, and closer Andres Muñoz earned his 12th save in the ninth, capping a 5-4 win over the Angels .
“It’s been a tough year,” France said in an interview. “Being able to help the team like that is great. »
The Mariners have won five of their last six games and improved to 32-27. They are four games ahead of the Rangers in the AL West – their largest lead this season.
“Ty France had a fantastic match,” said manager Scott Servais. “He’s kind of been on a roll here over the last few weeks and he’s done really well. Lots of good at-bats, lots of balls hitting hard. The excitement in the stadium tonight was fantastic, a great crowd. I know it’s a fireworks night and we only got one big fireworks display from Ty at the end which we really needed.
France went 3 for 3 in the game with a home run, a two-run double, a single and a walk. Over his last 11 games, he had 13 hits in 35 at-bats with a double, three home runs, eight RBIs, six walks and 12 strikeouts.
“He’s the best version of Ty France,” Servais said. “He spent a lot of time this offseason making changes to his body, thinking about where his swing was and what type of player he can be. When he uses the whole field to hit and then occasionally goes for a home run, long ball or extra-base hit, that’s who he is.
France’s late-inning heroics helped offset a seventh-inning collapse by the Mariners bullpen, which included giving up a grand slam to Jo Adell and erasing stellar work by Mariners starter Bryan Woo.
Woo was brutally efficient, throwing six scoreless innings while throwing just 66 pitches. He allowed three hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
But after allowing back-to-back singles to start the sixth inning and having to get out of the situation, aided by a double play, the Mariners decided to go to their bullpen.
Since Woo returned from the injured list after missing the first month of the season with elbow inflammation, the Mariners have yet to let him throw 80 or more pitches in an outing. And there was an additional reason to relieve him after six innings.
“He’s going through some things, obviously some arm issues,” Servais said. “He didn’t throw a bullpen between starts.”
Woo admitted he wasn’t feeling well a day after leaving Washington, D.C. on Sunday
“I think it was just a tough time with some five days (starting throwing every five days) and a long flight right after a pretty grueling start in Washington where it was pretty hot and taxy,” Woo said. “That’s kind of how it went this week. Like I said, injuries are never fun to deal with, but you just have to find a way to be ready on departure day. This is not what concerns me for the future.
But the Mariners’ coaching staff and high-performance staff will be cautious, even worried. Servais is tired of pitch counts being mentioned with Woo’s outs and outs.
“You have to listen to your players and stay attentive to them,” said Servais. “We do a tremendous job with our coaches, our pitching coaches. Everyone wants to keep track of pitch counts. I do not care. We try to take care of our guys and we try to do something special here. And what drives this train is our starting pitches and we can never forget that we have to keep these guys healthy.
But pitch matters?
“He’s not the ultimate decision maker,” Servais said. “You listen to your players, your coaches, the people who are with these guys every day. We’re trying to do what’s best for our team in the long term. We’re trying to win the American League West. And if you can’t count on the guys in the bullpen night after night to keep guys healthy, then you’re not going to win. And I say it again and again, we have to keep our starting pitchers healthy.
With Seattle leading 4-0, Trent Thornton started the seventh inning and never finished it, coming out with two outs and the bases loaded. Servais called on Tayler Saucedo to get out of trouble against Matt Thaiss. But Angels manager Ron Washington replaced him with pinch hitter Jo Adell, a potent right-handed hitting threat who was hitless in his last 18 plate appearances. Adell crushed a hanging breaking ball for a pinch-hit grand slam.
The Mariners immediately jumped on Angels starter Jose Soriano.
JP Crawford led off the bottom of the first with a double to right center, Josh Rojas followed with a soft single to left and Julio Rodriguez walked to load the bases with no outs.
Cal Raleigh gave Seattle a 1-0 lead with a sac fly to deep left field. With one out, France hit the wall in right center. Angels right fielder Kevin Pillar attempted to make a swing, but the ball hit the top of his glove as he collided with the wall. France moved into second place with a two-point double.
The Mariners scored another run in the fifth inning. Crawford doubled to right center and then scored on Raleigh’s single to right field.
THE SCORE OF THE BOX