Mariners 7, Angels 2: Raleigh's Three RBI Avoid a Sweep in Anaheim

Five walks, a wet mound, and none of the free passes scored

September 16, 2026 - Anaheim - George Kirby walked a career-high five. He told the MLB recap he had not done that since he was 12. He also slipped on wet grass fielding a bunt in the second. The trainer let him stay. The Seattle Mariners still beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-2, avoided a three-game sweep, and kept a thin playoff hope from dying on a Wednesday in Orange County.

Clear. 74 degrees. Wind 8 mph out to left. First pitch 6:38 p.m. Attendance 38,906. The game lasted 3 hours, 9 minutes. Seattle had nine hits and no homers. Los Angeles had 10 hits and left 14 on base. The Mariners are 71-82. The Angels are 58-94.

Kirby lasted 4 1/3: five hits, two runs, five walks, five strikeouts, 93 pitches. None of the five walked batters scored. That is the start. It is also why Carlos Vargas is the winning pitcher.

Kikuchi's 37-pitch first, then Raleigh and Naylor

Yusei Kikuchi threw 37 pitches in the first inning, the MLB recap said. It was his second start since coming off the injured list on August 23. J.P. Crawford singled. Randy Arozarena singled. Dominic Canzone walked. Bases loaded. Cal Raleigh hit a sacrifice fly to left. Crawford scored. 1-0. Josh Naylor singled Arozarena home with two outs. 2-0.

The Angels tied it before Kirby could settle in. Zach Neto scored on Vaughn Grissom's sacrifice fly in the first. 2-1. Denzer Guzman scored on Adam Frazier's single in the second. 2-2. Guzman finished 4-for-5. Neto had two hits, a walk, and a stolen base. Los Angeles put traffic on and left it there.

Seattle broke it in the fifth. Arozarena scored on Raleigh's double to left. 3-2. Naylor reached on a fielder's choice. Canzone scored. Raleigh scored. Grissom's throwing error from first made it 5-2. In the sixth, Canzone singled Crawford home, the ball deflecting off Guzman at third. 6-2. Raleigh singled Arozarena home. 7-2. Three RBI for Raleigh. Two for Naylor, plus two stolen bases. Julio Rodríguez went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base.

"We wanted to get on the fastball, wanted to make him get deep in counts," Raleigh said of Kikuchi, per the MLB recap. "I thought we drew some good walks today, took our hits, moved some runners."

Kikuchi lasted 4 1/3: five hits, five runs (four earned), five walks, four strikeouts, 99 pitches. He is 1-6. Sammy Peralta allowed the sixth-inning runs. Mitch Farris threw two scoreless and did not get a lead.

Vargas, two swinging strikeouts, and a 7-2 that held

Kirby handed Vargas a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth. Vargas, reinstated from the injured list on August 21 after a right lat strain, the MLB recap said, allowed a single to load the bases. Then he struck out Josh Lowe swinging. Then he struck out Christian Moore swinging. The inning died. Vargas is 1-0. He threw 1 1/3, one hit, three strikeouts, 18 pitches.

"Vargas did a great job coming in behind me," Kirby said, per the MLB recap. "He looked nasty there. He got a lot of good swings and misses when he needed to."

José A. Ferrer and Cooper Criswell covered the middle. Andrés Muñoz threw a scoreless ninth, two hits, one strikeout. Los Angeles put 10 hits on the board and scored two. Fourteen left on base is how a 7-2 looks louder than the Angels' hit total.

Kirby was honest about the rest. "I felt really good. But I was having a little issue with the mound," he said, per the MLB recap. "Sliding in the grass, it was wet... I just know I haven't really been feeling like myself lately. I feel really good out there, and then I just don't play like George Kirby." He also said he was glad none of the leadoff walks scored.

Manager Dan Wilson pointed at the approach: patience, traffic, and two Angels mistakes. The Mariners did not hit a homer. They did not need one. They made Kikuchi throw 37 in the first and then took the fifth when Grissom's throw went the wrong way.

Nine games left, and a 7-2 that only buys another series

Seattle has nine games remaining. Next is three in Denver against the Rockies, the MLB recap said. A single win in Anaheim does not change the standings much. It does keep a club that just dropped the first two of this series from being swept by a last-place Angels team. Logan Gilbert said Tuesday that the job is still to show up and try to win every game. Wednesday was that job with five walks attached.

The Angels are 58-94. They had 10 hits, two errors, and a starter who could not throw a first inning under 37 pitches. Neto and Guzman did their part. The rest of the lineup left the bases loaded in the fifth and spent the last four innings chasing a 7-2.

Naylor finished 2-for-5 with a double, two RBI, and two steals. Raleigh went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and three RBI. That is a 7-2 without a ball leaving the yard. In September, that is still a win you take.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Naylor at 9 hitting fantasy points and Raleigh at 7. Kirby had 3.33 pitching FP. Vargas had 7.33. Seattle finished with 15 team FP, tied for third on a 15-game Wednesday. Los Angeles finished at minus-4.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*