Walton homers, Gilbert gets 1st win as Mariners down Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- — Seattle's Logan Gilbert earned his first major league victory Sunday, but for Angels' starter Patrick Sandoval the torturous wait continues.

Gilbert struck out seven and benefitted from some timely hitting from Donovan Walton and J.P. Crawford in the Mariners' 9-5 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday.

“I’m happy for Logan to get that first win. He threw the ball really well,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He had traffic but made some big pitches against some big-time hitters.”

Gilbert (1-2) allowed two hits and struck out seven in his fifth big league start. The 24-year-old right-hander — the 14th overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft — yielded a leadoff home run to Justin Upton and walked three during the first two innings before retiring 10 of his final 12 hitters.

“It’s crazy. It’s awesome. A moment I dreamed up for sure,” Gilbert said. “My family’s here (from Florida). They made it out so it’s awesome having them here and being able to see the first one.”

Sandoval induced 32 swings and misses, the most of any big league pitcher this year. According to Sportradar, it is the most swings and misses in a loss in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).

"They have a lot of left-handed hitters and their team has a tendency to strike out. His fastball command and changeup was good," Angels manager Joe Maddon said.

Sandoval — who has gone a franchise-record 19 consecutive starts without a win — ran into trouble in the third. Walton led off the inning by lining a fastball down the right-field line for a 2-1 lead.

Walton and J.P. Crawford both had two hits and drove in a pair of runs as the Mariners earned a split in the four-game weekend series.

Sandoval (0-2) had a career-high 10 strikeouts and retired 11 straight to end his afternoon. The left-hander allowed three runs, five hits and one walk, throwing 69 of 101 pitches for strikes.

Upton had two hits and two RBI for the Angels, who are 3-4 against the Mariners this season. Anthony Rendon also had two hits and drove in a run as he turned 31 on Sunday.

Crawford led off the game with a walk, advanced on a wild pitch, took third on Ty France’s one-out single and scored on Seager’s sacrifice fly.

Upton tied it at 1 when he put Gilbert’s first pitch into the Mariners’ bullpen in left-center field.

After Walton’s home run in the third, J.P. Crawford doubled to right field and took third on Mitch Haniger’s single. Following Ty France’s lineout, Seager singled for a 3-1 lead.

The Mariners added a run in the seventh on Crawford’s RBI double.

The Angels got within two runs in the eighth after Rendon started the inning on a single and scored on Jared Walsh’s double down the right-field line.

Seattle broke it open with five in the ninth. The Mariners sent 11 batters to the plate but had only three hits, including an RBI single by Tom Murphy to make it 8-2. The other runs came on a pair of bases-loaded walks, a sacrifice fly and a fielder's choice.

Los Angeles got three in the ninth on RBI doubles by Upton and Rendon, and Juan Lagares' run-scoring grounder.

QUITE A CLUB

Sandoval's 32 swings and misses are the fifth-most by a pitcher in the pitch-tracking era. It is also the 15th time a starter generated 30 or more in a game. Danny Duffy, Jacob deGrom and Clayton Kershaw share the single-game mark with 35.

Ohtani, Matt Shoemaker and Jered Weaver had the previous Angels' single-game record with 25.

“I felt good. Most of my stuff was working for the majority of the game,” Sandoval said.

UP NEXT

Mariners: Are off on Monday before beginning a three-game series at Detroit on Tuesday. LHP Marco Gonzales (1-3, 5.01) makes his second start since coming off the IL (left forearm strain). He pitched four innings last Tuesday at Oakland and struck out six while allowing one run on two hits.

Angels: RHP Dylan Bundy (0-6, 6.49 ERA) takes the mound for Monday's opener of a three-game series against Kansas City. Bundy's string streak of 10 consecutive winless starts is the longest of his seven-year major league career.

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