Willie Calhoun hits 2nd homer of the night in 10th inning, walking off Angels’ 6-5 win over Mariners

AP Sports Writer

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Willie Calhoun hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the 10th inning, sending the Los Angeles Angels to a 6-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Calhoun hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and he added a no-doubt shot to right field in the 10th on the second pitch by Austin Voth (2-3). The eight-year major league veteran slugger said it was the first walk-off hit of his baseball career, including the minors.

“I’ve put in a lot of work, especially the last few months,” Calhoun said. “It’s pretty cool to see it translate to the game.”

Calhoun, who had hit just one homer since May 12, connected for his third career multi-homer game as the Angels snapped the Mariners’ three-game winning streak and earned just their third victory in nine games.

“Both homers, I didn’t try to muscle up or anything,” Calhoun said. “In the 10th, I was just (trying to) get a ground ball in the right side.”

Mitch Garver bounced a one-out double into the stands off Hans Crouse (2-0) in the Mariners’ half of the 10th, scoring automatic runner Josh Rojas from second. Crouse struck out Rodriguez and Ty France to limit the rally.

“They’ve got a good back end of their bullpen, too,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “This was one of those games where it’s going to come down to who gets a couple of big hits.”

Cal Raleigh hit his fifth homer in four days for Seattle, and Julio Rodríguez hit a two-run homer in the first inning.

Raleigh’s two-run shot in the third inning was his 20th of the season, and it gave him three homers in the last 10 innings at Angel Stadium. The catcher connected from each side of the plate Thursday, a feat he also accomplished Tuesday in San Diego.

Bryan Woo had a rocky return from the injured list for Seattle, yielding four runs on nine hits and two walks before getting chased in the fourth inning. After a strong start to the season, Woo had missed his last two turns in the rotation with a hamstring injury.

“Their plan was they were super-aggressive early in counts” against Woo’s four-seam fastball, Servais said. “They were looking for the ball at the top of the zone. You’ve really got to be looking for it, but Bryan is going to be fine. He’s healthy, feels good, the ball is coming out good. You’ve just got to give them credit.”

Tyler Anderson, the Angels’ sole All-Star selection, gave up four runs in six innings of six-hit ball with four strikeouts.

Rodríguez’s two-out line drive to right off Anderson cleared the yellow line on the elevated right field fence for his 10th homer in the first.

Calhoun tied it with his first homer of the night.

“Willie is a professional hitter,” Anderson said. “He’s always got good approaches for every pitcher he faces, and tonight he really stuck to it.”

The Angels then strung together three straight singles off Woo, but J.P. Crawford threw out Logan O’Hoppe at the plate on a deflected ball. Los Angeles loaded the bases again in the second, but Taylor Ward grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Mickey Moniak doubled and scored on Jo Adell’s single in the fourth, and Nolan Schanuel drove in Adell with a broken-bat single that chased Woo.

Angels reliever Ben Joyce threw a fastball clocked at 104.5 mph in the seventh inning. He has thrown 13 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: Gabe Speier pitched an inning for Triple-A Tacoma in his return from a strained rotator cuff. The Santa Barbara-area native has been out since May 29, missing 37 games.

UP NEXT

George Kirby (7-6, 3.39 ERA) takes the mound for Seattle on Saturday against José Soriano (8-8. 2.81 ERA), one of the few pleasant surprises from the first half of the Angels’ season.

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