ANAHEIM, CA – Two solo home runs was all the Angels could muster in a 7-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners Saturday night while the Mariners, and one Mariner in particular, stormed ahead with an overpowering offense of their own. 

Mariners catcher and Home-Run Derby winner Cal Raleigh hit his league leading 40th home run in the sixth inning of the Seattle victory. Raleigh’s home run not only leads the league but puts him in rare territory, becoming just the fifth Mariner to record at least 40 home runs in a season and putting him alongside the likes of Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Nelosn Cruz. 

“It’s a cool milestone to hit and I’m very thankful for it. Cool moment for sure,” Raleigh said. “30 [home runs] that was pretty cool, 40 is definitely pretty cool as well. So, I’m not trying to downplay it, but… glad we got the win tonight.”

Angels starter Tyler Anderson only allowed two runs in 4.2 innings of work while giving up six hits, but he labored through the game and struggled to put away runners in clean innings. He was relieved by Sam Bachman in the top of the fifth inning with two outs after already hitting 88 pitches. 

Seattle jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning off the two aforementioned solo shots by Mariner outfielders Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena. The Angels one run in that span came in the second inning in the form of outfielder Taylor Ward’s 24th home run of the season and team-leading 76th RBI. 

Seattle Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena (56) steals second base against Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) during the sixth inning at Angel Stadium.

Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Seattle Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena (56) steals second base against Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) during the sixth inning at Angel Stadium.

Angels shortstop Zach Neto, the walk-off hero from the night before, sent a ball to the warning track in the fifth that lingered in the air just long enough to send the Angels home crowd into a roar, thinking he had blown the game open with a three-run blast before they had to settle with a mere RBI sacrifice fly that tied the game at two. 

That tie lasted until Raleigh’s historic blast the next inning. What followed was a four-run sixth inning for the Mariners after the Angels bullpen walked the bases loaded and the Mariners took advantage.

The damage would have ended there when J.P. Crawford topped a soft ground ball to Angels second baseman Luis Rengifo, but Rengifo mishandled the ball and allowed both Crawford to reach safely and another Mariner run to score from third, ballooning the Seattle lead to 6-2 in what ended in an eventual victory. 

“Maybe he though he [Rengifo] has less time than he did,” Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “Unfortunate, because I think he has him. I think he maybe rushed it a little bit.”

Angels third baseman Yoán Moncada was struck in the hand by a pitch from Seattle starter George Kirby in the next inning and had to exit the game. X-rays on Moncada’s hand came back negative for a fracture and he is considered day-to-day. 

The loss of Moncada to injury would be a serious blow to an already short-staffed Angels lineup as both Jorge Soler and Chris Taylor were placed on the 10-day IL prior to the game. With the Trade Deadline looming and Los Angeles expected to sell, an injury to Moncada would deprive the Angels of not only a player on the field, but a potential trade piece as well. 

Kyle Hendricks is on the mound for the Angels in the finale of the series Sunday, July 27 at 1:07 pm as Los Angeles looks to tie up the series.Â