Just when it seemed that Joe Saunders couldn’t find another way to lose on the road, he did. The luckless lefthander tossed a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning that allowed Mike Trout to score, and the L.A. Angels recorded a 1-0 victory over the Mariners Wednesday night in Anaheim.
Trout doubled to open the frame, Albert Pugols lined out to right fielder Endy Chavez, sending Trout to third. That’s when Saunders threw his wild pitch past 2012 No. 1 pick Mike Zunino, sending Trout scooting across the plate easily. It was Saunders’ first wild pitch of the season.
Otherwise, Saunders pitched splendidly. He allowed just one run on six hits in 8.0 innings, striking out eight and walking two. He threw 100 pitches, 58 for strikes. Unfortunately for Saunders, he got no help from his offense. Kyle Seager and Kendrys Morales had singles for the Mariners, their only hits.
Saunders has allowed one or fewer earned runs seven times in 15 starts, but has just a 5-7 record to show for it. He has a 1.82 ERA over his past five starts.
Zunino nearly drove a ball over the fence in left in the seventh inning, but Trout, the star o the game, made a nice catch to deny the Mariners a potential game-tying run.
Seattle’s ineptness at the plate was due mainly to the effectiveness of Angels lefty C.J. Wilson, who killed the Mariners with his sinking fastball. Wilson permitted just two hits over 7.0 innings and fanned three. He has now defeated Seattle three times this season.
For the Mariners (32-41), it marked their sixth shutout loss of the season and third defeat in four games. Seattle now trails the season series with the Angels 5-4. L.A. has outscored Seattle 33-7 in five games at Angels Stadium this season.
The current four-game series, tied 1-1, will resume Thursday night. RHP Felix Hernandez (8-4, 2.32) will oppose RHP Tommy Hanson 4-2, 3.94).
