Seattle sluggers too much for Angels in 6-2 loss

SEATTLE – The Los Angeles Angels got on the board early, but their offense stalled just as quickly as defensive mistakes and a resurgent Seattle Mariners offense got the better of the Halos in a 6-2 loss to kick of their series against their division rivals from the north. 

Zach Neto continued his hot streak as of late with a leadoff double while Denzer Guzman, who's quickly asserting himself as the young impact player that the Angels have been hoping he'd develop into, followed with a hard ground ball off the glove of Josh Naylor at first base to drive Neto home and give the Angels an early 1-0 lead. 

Neto struck again in the top of the third with a solo home run, further proving that his slow start to the season may be in the past now, to put the Angels ahead 2-0. It was certainly a strong start, but it was also all the offense the Angels could muster for the rest of the game, leaving the door open for the Mariners to come back.

Cole Taylor cut the lead in half with a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the third inning, but the fourth inning was where things began to get away from the Angels.

Guzman mishandled a ground ball at third base that would have ended the inning, but instead loaded the bases for Cal Raleigh. 

Relative to what Raleigh has shown he's capable of, a RBI single from the Seattle catcher that drove in two unearned runs and improved the Mariners to a 3-2 lead was the least amount of damage the Angels could have gotten away with. 

The Mariners tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth with two more home runs, including Young's second home run of the game, to take their lead to the eventual winning score of 6-2. 

Johnson's chance

Ryan Johnson was given another chance as a starter on the mound for the Halos and despite being held back by Guzman's error in the fourth, his individual stat line showed he fared well against the Mariners by allowing four hits, three runs, just one earned, but struck out just three in his outing. 

With how thin the Angels' rotation is and with multiple pitchers vying for a spot, every start carries increased significance and even if Johnson left the game with a loss, he could have made an impression  on Angels manager Kurt Suzuki than could turn into another shot on the mound for Johnson.