SEATTLE _ The scoreboard in T-Mobile Park on Sunday looked like something you'd see next door at CenturyLink Field. The Los Angeles Angels scored a touchdown in the second inning and tacked on a field goal and a safety in the fifth inning of a 13-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
The offensive outburst made for a relatively breezy major league debut for Jose Suarez, the stout 21-year-old left-hander from Venezuela who gave up three runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking three, to lead the Angels to their seventh win in nine games.
The 5-foot-10, 225-pound Suarez, who signed for $300,000 as a 16-year-old in 2014, mixed a fastball that touched 93 mph with a curve, slider and an impressive changeup that he threw between 81-83 mph and used on all of his strikeouts. The Mariners swung and missed at 10 of the 26 changeups Suarez threw.
Suarez gave up two runs in the second inning on Domingo Santana's single, Kyle Seager's double and a pair of RBI groundouts. He was pulled with a pitch count of 88 after Seager's two-out solo homer to right in the sixth.
An Angels offense that amassed 15 hits, including home runs by Albert Pujols and Luis Rengifo as well as three hits each by David Fletcher and Mike Trout, eased any stress or pressure Suarez might have felt.
The Angels, who have struggled all season against left-handers, pummeled Seattle southpaw Marco Gonzalez for 10 runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings for their fourth consecutive win against a left-handed starter. Gonzalez was 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA in two previous starts against the Angels this season.
The Angels, who are now 8-14 against left-handed starters, batted around twice, sending 11 men to the plate in the second and fifth innings, with Tommy La Stella sparking both rallies with hits.
La Stella lined a one-out single to center in the second, and Dustin Garneau was hit by a pitch. Brian Goodwin hit an RBI double to center, Rengifo reached on an RBI fielder's choice and Fletcher doubled to right for a run.
After Trout was walked to load the bases, Shohei Ohtani hit a sacrifice fly to right and Pujols hit a three-run homer to left for a 7-0 lead.
La Stella doubled to right-center with one out in the fifth and Garneau walked. Goodwin grounded out to first, the runners advancing, and Rengifo walked. La Stella scored on a wild pitch and Fletcher walked to again load the bases.
Trout hit a two-run single to left-center field. Pujols followed with a fly ball to deep center that Mallex Smith lost in the sun. The ball bounced on the warning track and over the wall for a ground-rule double and a 12-2 lead.
Rengifo hit his first big league homer, a 424-foot shot into the upper deck in right field, for a 13-2 lead in the sixth. The score was so lopsided that Mariners catcher Tom Murphy and Angels two-way player Jared Walsh pitched the ninth.
Sunday was the start of a grueling three-day stretch in which the Angels will travel 3,447 air miles and cross two time zones twice, flying Sunday night to Chicago for Monday's 3 p.m. CDT makeup game against the Cubs and returning home to play the Oakland Athletics Tuesday night.
Trevor Cahill, who will start Monday against Cubs left-hander Jon Lester, flew to Chicago ahead of the team on Sunday. Griffin Canning, who is scheduled to pitch Tuesday night, didn't even go to Chicago. He flew to Orange County after Sunday's game.
"It's not ideal, but we don't get in (to Chicago) horribly late," Angels manager Brad Ausmus said. "The game is at 3 p.m., which is better than 1 p.m. It's a lot of travel, but in terms of sleep, it shouldn't be too bad."
