Mariners rout Angels, gain ground in playoff race

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Well, hello Mariners. Welcome back to the postseason chase.

Tuesday’s 13-2 romp over the Los Angeles Angels snapped a three-game skid and, combined with Kansas City’s loss, left the Mariners just one game back in the wild-card chase with 12 games to go.

That it came somewhat gift-wrapped didn’t matter at all.

Sometimes, all it takes is a break to turn everything around, and the Mariners got a big one when baseball’s best player, Angels center fielder Mike Trout, misplayed a fly ball into a two-run double.

When Trout took a poor route on that drive by Mike Zunino, the Mariners erased an early two-run deficit in the fifth inning. And it was if the dam broke on their run-starved attack.

The Mariners scored four runs in the fifth. They added six more in the sixth inning. It was an amazing turnaround for a club that had managed just one run in its previous 25 innings.

Rookie reliever Carson Smith (1-0) got the victory in relief of lefty starter Roenis Elias, who departed in the fourth inning as a precaution because of stiffness in his elbow.

Smith worked two scoreless innings before a relay of four more relievers closed out the victory, which boosted the Mariners to 81-69 and left them one game behind the Royals (82-68) for that final wild-card slot.

It sure didn’t start out well.

The Mariners managed just one hit through four innings against Angels right-hander Cory Rasmus, a former reliever in his fourth start since shifting to the rotation.

But they quickly stirred to life in the fifth against Jason Grilli.

Kendrys Morales led off with a walk, and Grilli (1-3) then hit Logan Morrison. The runners advanced on Endy Chavez’s sacrifice.

Chavez was initially called safe at first, but the Angels challenged, and replays overturned the call.

Zunino followed with a game-changing – and, perhaps, a season-changing – drive to deep center that Trout stunningly over-ran with a poor route.

That two-run double snapped a 0-for-18 drought by the Mariners with runners in scoring position. It also marked the first time they had scored more than one run in an inning since the second on Sept. 10 against Houston.

And they weren’t done.

Chris Taylor yanked an RBI double to left for a 3-2 lead, which finished Grilli. The Angels called on Mike Morin, who struck out Austin Jackson before Dustin Ackley drove a two-out RBI double to left that made it 4-2.

The last time the Mariners scored four runs in an inning was a six-run second on Sept. 4 at Texas.

The Mariners added six more runs in the sixth against Fernando Salas and Joe Thatcher.

Again, Morales started things; this time with a single. He went to third when Morrison pulled a double past first. Chavez followed with an RBI single through the left side.

Salas loaded the bases by nicking Zunino with a 2-2 change-up. The runners held when Taylor flied to right, but Jackson drove an RBI single to right for a 6-2 lead.

The Angels switched to Thatcher for left-on-left match-ups, but Ackley drove a sacrifice fly to right.

Then the Mariners caught another big break.

Robinson Cano hit a squibber up the first-base line. Thatcher let it go for a single, but catcher Chris Iannetta grabbed the ball and threw behind Zunino at third.

The throw was wild, a two-base error, that allowed Zunino and Jackson to score. Cano went all the way to third. Kyle Seager then drilled an RBI single for a 10-2 lead.