SEATTLE _ With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Nick Margevicius was ahead in the count, 1-2, against future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols when he unleashed an 85 mph slider across the middle of the plate, down low on the edge of strike zone. Too low, apparently.
Margevicius didn't get the strike-three call he was hoping for, and three pitches later Pujols lined a ground-rule double down the left-field line, driving in the tying run. That 1-2 miss was the crucial pitch, and the crucial at-bat, in the Mariners' 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night at Angels Stadium.
Justin Upton drove in Pujols with the go-ahead run, making Margevicius the hard-luck loser in an otherwise impressive start for the 24-year-old left-hander.
Margevicius threw a career-high 98 pitches and completed five-plus inning in his third straight start, emerging as one of the most pleasant surprises of the season for the Mariners. His final line Friday: six innings pitched, seven hits, two runs, two walks and five strikeouts.
Margevicius took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth after Sam Haggerty drove in J.P. Crawford from second base in the top half of the inning. Haggerty singled after failing to get down a sacrifice bunt to advance Crawford, who led off the inning with a double.
Andrew Heaney allowed only that one run over 72/3 innings for the Angels. He struck out 10.
Mike Trout homered off Mariners right-hander Brady Lail to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning. It was Trout's 11th homer of the season and the 45th of his career against the Mariners.
Taijuan Walker is scheduled to make his debut for the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday, ending a turbulent week for the former Mariners pitcher.
Walker was a leading voice in the Mariners' clubhouse on Wednesday when the team voted to not play their game in San Diego that night in protest of racial injustice.
The next day, Walker was traded from Seattle to Toronto on Thursday for a player to be named later. That night, he found out from his father that his family "lost everything" when Hurricane Laura destroyed their home in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
"Pretty emotional for me and for them too," Walker told Toronto reporters in a Zoom call Friday.
Walker, a free agent at the end of this season, was 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA in five starts for the Mariners this season.
Rookie first baseman Evan White was not in the lineup Friday night, a day after a shoulder injury forced him to exit the first game of the Mariners' doubleheader in San Diego.
White had an MRI on his ailing shoulder Friday morning. Results of that scan were not available, manager Scott Servais said, but White reported to Servais that he was feeling much better Friday, a day after exiting a game because of the injury.
Servais is hopeful White can return to the lineup this weekend.
