Leake back into fire as Mariners host Angels
SEATTLE -- It's a good thing Mike Leake works fast: The Seattle Mariners' recently acquired right-hander barely had a chance to catch his breath before he was thrust into the American League wild-card race.
Starting two days after his Aug. 30 trade, Leake went seven strong innings for the Mariners, a 3-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Now fellow wild-card hopeful Los Angeles Angels (72-68) come to Safeco Field on Friday to start a three-game series. If Leake was genuinely hoping for a breather, that can come later.
Los Angeles enters the Friday game against the Seattle Mariners one game back of the Minnesota Twins in the American League wild-card race. The Angels held the second wild-card spot before a 3-1 loss at Oakland on Wednesday.
The Mariners (69-71) are four games behind Minnesota.
"There's plenty of baseball left," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "Obviously, there's series coming; the Angels are ahead of us in the standings, in the wild card. They're playing very good baseball."
With Seattle having just absorbed a three-game sweep at the hands of the AL West-leading Houston Astros, Leake's start Friday against the Angels only magnified in importance. For the season, Leake is 8-12 with a 4.14 ERA in 161 innings.
"(He was) outstanding," Servais said of Leake's debut. "I would love to see that every time out, but he was really good. ... He's been a nice addition."
Leake earned a win in his only career outing against the Angels, allowing one run in eight innings on May 10, 2016, at Anaheim. However, current Los Angeles players are hitting Leake at a .339 clip, led by former National Leaguers Justin Upton (.412, one homer in 17 at-bats) and Andrelton Simmons (.438, one homer in 16 at-bats).
Angels right-hander Ricky Nolasco (6-12) enters his Friday start with a 5.08 ERA in 156 innings. However, he also comes into the contest tied for the team lead with 11 quality starts (six innings or more, three earned runs or fewer).
Nolasco is a bit of an upswing, as he is 2-0 in seven starts since Aug. 1. Moreover, Los Angeles is 5-2 in those starts. That is a substantial improvement from a woeful stretch in May and June that saw the 34-year-old lose seven consecutive decisions.
He is 2-4 with a 4.36 ERA in nine career starts against the Mariners, including 1-0 with a 4.07 ERA in four meetings this year.
The bad news is that Seattle sluggers Nelson Cruz (.440, four homers, seven RBI in 25 career at-bats) and Robinson Cano (.333, three home runs, four RBI in 24 career at-bats) have feasted on Nolasco.
The Angels' bullpen is coming off a hot month, when it posted a major-league-best 2.18 ERA in August. That is more impressive when you look at the string of injuries sustained by the relievers, with Huston Street, Andrew Bailey and Cam Bedrosian missing time.
It has forced Angels manager Mike Scioscia to be flexible with his bullpen, maybe more flexible that he would normally be comfortable with. In Los Angeles' three wins in September, three different pitchers have recorded saves (Blake Parker, Keynan Middleton, Eduardo Paredes).
"It's much cleaner and much easier when you have a dedicated setup guy and a dedicated closer," Scioscia told the Orange County Register. "Now you have three or four outs a game matching up (between the starter and the setup man). It's not like it's rocket science, but now we're managing 10 or 11 or 12 outs."
The Angels got some good news with Albert Pujols getting cleared to play against the Mariners on Friday after sitting out Wednesday due to a sore left knee. He is hitting .244 with 21 home runs and a team-leading 93 RBI.
"He slid into second base in Texas (on Sept. 1) and just irritated (the knee) a little bit," Scioscia told MLB.com. "He's been playing on it and swinging well, it just affects some of his running."
