ANAHEIM, Calif._They've dealt with the issues from day one of the season, so why not one more time on the second-to-last day of the season?
The season of the injured starting pitcher continued on Saturday night in Game 161 for the Seattle Mariners in what would be a 6-4 come-from-behind win over the Angels.
Andrew Moore was scheduled to make the start at Angels Stadium, giving the young right-hander one more chance to show he belonged at the big-league level before heading into the offseason.
However neck spasms that started on Friday continued into Saturday and M's manager Scott Servais had no choice but to scratch Moore and insert lefty Andrew Albers into the spot.
The last-minute change to starting pitchers didn't factor in the outcome of the game. That's because the Mariners scored five runs in the eighth inning_all off right-handed reliever Cam Bedrosian_to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 6-4 lead.
Nelson Cruz drove home Mitch Haniger, who reached on his fourth hit of the night, to start the scoring. Kyle Seager followed with a three-run homer to deep right and Yonder Alonso made it back-to-back homers with a solo blast to right-center.
It was Seager's 27th homer and second straight game with a long ball. Alonso has six homers with the Mariners and 28 combined with his production from the A's.
Haniger had a monster night at the plate, going 5 for 5 with three doubles and two singles. He raised his batting average from .275 to .285 in one night. The three doubles in one game tied a club record that was last matched by Kyle Seager on June 18. The last Mariners player to notch five hits in a game was Robinson Cano on Aug. 16, 2015 against the Red Sox.
As for Moore, he might be available to pitch in relief on Sunday in the season finale if needed.
"We were hoping it would calm down overnight and he'd come in today and be OK," Servais said pregame. "Unfortunately, he's not OK. He doesn't have any range of motion in his neck. He's not feeling real good."
Albers happily took the ball in Moore's place. The lefty turns 32 on Oct. 6 and he's been around long enough _ 150 games in the minors, 25 in the big leagues and about 30 more in foreign leagues_to know to be ready when called upon. He was likely to be the first long relief candidate to be used on Saturday or Sunday.
Albers gave the Mariners a fair outing under the circumstances, pitching 41/3 innings and allowing three runs on six hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Never overpowering and always relying on command, Albers worked around runners in the first three innings without allowing a run. But a leadoff single to Brandon Phillips in the fourth would eventually lead to a run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Luis Valbuena for a 1-0 Angels lead.
The Mariners tied the game in the top of the fifth when rookie outfielder Jacob Hannemann crushed a 1-0 fastball off Angels' starter Ricky Nolasco into the right field seats for his first big-league homer.
It was the only run the Mariners would muster against Nolasco despite their seven hits off him and his 5.02 ERA on the season and propensity to give up dingers. Seattle had runners in scoring position in the first two innings but came away with nothing.
The Angels retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Kole Calhoun led off the frame with a solo homer to center on a 2-1 sinker over the middle of the plate. A one-out double off the bat of Justin Upton ended Albers' night.
He was replaced by Dan Altavilla, who wild pitched Upton to third. That extra base loomed costly as Upton was able to score on a Albert Pujols RBI to make it 3-1. Altavilla gave up another run in the sixth on a Valbuena RBI double that made it 4-1.
After taking a 6-4 lead in the top of the eighth, things got a little dicey in the bottom of the inning with two outs. After getting two quick outs, Emilio Pagan walked a batter and gave up a single. Called on to face Calhoun, Marc Rzepczynski gave up a single to load the bases, bringing Mike Trout to the plate. Trout homered twice off the Mariners on Friday night, but closer Edwin Diaz came in and got him to hit a soft fly ball to right that Cano caught over his shoulder to end the inning.
