It would appear the Seattle Mariners’ middle infield is set for the foreseeable future.
Second-year second baseman Cole Young went 3-for-3 with two home runs and combined with rookie shortstop Colt Emerson, the team’s top prospect, to turn three double plays in a 6-2 victory Monday night against the visiting Los Angeles Angels.
The three-game series between American League West rivals continues Tuesday in Seattle.
Dominic Canzone also homered for the Mariners as they climbed back to .500 and remained a half-game behind division-leading Texas.
Young also hit a go-ahead, two-run homer last Tuesday in a 3-2 victory in his hometown of Pittsburgh.
“Cole Young is seeing the ball extremely well. Making some really nice swings,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. They (Young and Canzone) were getting pitches out front, pitches they could handle, and hitting them out of the ballpark.”
Canzone belted a 428-foot blast to right-center leading off the bottom of the sixth inning, with Young hitting 412- and 406-foot shots. The first was a solo blast to straightaway center in the third inning and the second a two-run bomb off the facade of the second deck later in the sixth to cap the scoring.
“He’s got a lot more juice than I do. It’s hard to compete with him,” Young said of Canzone, who was serving as the designated hitter because of a slight hamstring strain. “I’m sure tomorrow he’ll bring it up at some point.”
As for his own homers?
“It felt really good,” Young said. “It’s nice to just help the team win. Just stayed with my approach and didn’t try to do too much.”
Zach Neto doubled and scored in the first inning and homered in the third for the last-place Angels, who had won their past two games and six of eight.
But that was pretty much all they could muster against George Kirby, who allowed two runs on seven hits over eight innings.
“I felt like we were hitting the ball hard, a lot of hard contact, not a lot of swing and miss,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “To (Kirby’s) credit, when he got traffic on, he executed pitches, and that’s what good pitchers do.”
Tuesday’s tilt is set to feature a pair of right-handers in the Angels’ Jose Soriano (8-4, 3.32 ERA) against the Mariners’ Bryan Woo (6-6, 4.26).
Soriano went just three innings in his last start Wednesday against visiting Baltimore, giving up five runs on six hits. He didn’t get a decision as the Angels rallied from a five-run deficit to win 7-6 in 10 innings.
Soriano is 2-0 with a 3.19 ERA in 10 career appearances against Seattle, including five starts.
Woo has lost three of his past four decisions and suffered an 11-1 defeat Wednesday in Pittsburgh as he allowed five runs on six hits over four innings.
Although Woo has struggled on the road, he has won his past four home starts without allowing a run, giving up nine hits over 26 innings with 35 strikeouts. He’s 2-0 with a 2.82 ERA in nine previous starts against the Angels.
–Field Level Media
