George Kirby pitched eight strong innings and Cole Young hit two home runs as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Los Angeles Angels 6-2 on Monday night at T-Mobile Park.
The win improved Seattle's record to 43-43, keeping them a half-game behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the American League West.
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Kirby earned his seventh win of the season, allowing two runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out seven over 100 pitches.
Angels rookie Ryan Johnson took the loss, allowing three runs (one earned) over five innings, dropping his record to 1-3.
Los Angeles took an early 2-0 lead.
Zach Neto drove in a run with a single in the first inning and hit a solo home run, his 18th of the season, in the third inning off Kirby.
Seattle responded in the bottom of the third when Cole Young hit a solo home run.
In the fourth, Cal Raleigh drove in two runs with a single after a fielding error by Angels third baseman Denzer Guzman.
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki praised Johnson's performance despite the defensive miscue.
"I thought R. J.
pitched really good today," Suzuki said.
"He got ahead, he threw a lot of strikes, first-pitch strikes, which is huge for him, and he really limited hard contact."
The error occurred when a slow ground ball hit by Josh Naylor slipped past Guzman into left field, allowing the tying and go-ahead runs to score.
