Halos 'showed fight' as rally falls short

ANAHEIM -- It was nearly an epic comeback in the ninth inning for the Angels but they fell just short, as they couldn't overcome another inconsistent showing from lefty Andrew Heaney.

Down four runs in the ninth, they rallied three runs, keyed by a two-run single from two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani with two outs, but Phil Gosselin lined out in the right-center field gap to end it in a 6-5 loss Friday at Angel Stadium.

"Of course, you want to win, but I loved every second of our effort tonight," Angels manager Joe Maddon said. "That was a lot of what I spoke about before the game today. If our team plays like that every night, we're going to win a lot of games. It was outstanding. The superlatives, I can go all night. But we didn't pitch as well as we can. Andrew had a tough night."

The rally was spurred by a costly error from Mariners second baseman Dylan Moore, as Seattle appeared to have the game in hand with Luis Rengifo hitting a hard grounder to second for a potential double play with one out. But Moore's throw was wild, allowing Rengifo to reach second and new addition Adam Eaton to reach third.

Even after Kean Wong struck out, the Angels capitalized from there with two outs with David Fletcher bringing home a run with an infield single. It was the third hit of the game for Fletcher, who extended his hit streak to 25 games.

It brought up Ohtani, who had an incredible seven-pitch battle with Kendall Graveman. After fouling back three fastballs, Ohtani laced a two-run single to center on a 2-2 slider to make it a one-run game. And it was smoked, as it had an exit velocity of 107.7 mph, per Statcast.

"That was wonderful," Maddon said. "The thing about him is he really likes that moment. He doesn't shy away from it. He loves to be in the batter's box or on the mound when it matters and you gotta love that about him."

Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh followed with a single off right-hander Paul Sewald to put runners at the corners for Gosselin. Gosselin hit one that appeared headed for the gap, only for right fielder Mitch Haniger to make a running catch to end it.

"We did so many things wonderfully tonight," Maddon said. "But we have to pitch better."

Heaney said it starts with him, as he’s scuffled this season and fell to 5-7 with a 5.56 ERA in 16 starts. Heaney, who is set to be a free agent after the season, was supposed to help anchor the rotation, but he has been mired in an especially rough stretch since mid-June. Heaney has posted an 8.49 ERA over his last five starts, allowing 23 runs over 24 1/3 innings.

"The most frustrating thing is I feel like if I had a halfway decent start, that rally doesn't come up short," Heaney said. "Shohei hits a walk-off and we're all celebrating with a win to start the second half. So that's frustrating and all I can really do is just keep working and keep doing what I know I've done to be successful and just keep pushing."

He was in trouble from the start, putting two runners on in the first inning after allowing a single to Haniger and plunking Ty France with a breaking ball. Luis Torrens brought home the game’s first run with a two-out RBI single on a 1-1 fastball up and out of the zone.

After a 1-2-3 second, Heaney was again hurt by Haniger, who doubled with one out and scored on an RBI single from France. Kyle Seager then delivered a two-run homer on a 2-1 fastball on the inner part of the plate.

“I was trying to go down and away but it leaked up,” Heaney said. “It was basically middle-middle.”

Heaney got through the fourth on 79 pitches, and was removed in favor of rookie reliever Andrew Wantz. Wantz, making his second career appearance, showed some potential, retiring all five batters he faced.

But veteran Dylan Bundy, who was the club’s Opening Day starter, had yet another tough outing in relief, promptly giving up a two-run homer to Haniger in the seventh. It was the first batter Bundy faced and came on a 2-0 sinker. It was Bundy's 17th homer allowed in 17 appearances (14 starts) this year and he has a 6.78 ERA in 69 innings after posting a 3.29 ERA in 65 2/3 innings last season.

"The home run by Haniger was a big play and I knew that at the moment," Maddon said. "Dylan, I love the man, but Haniger got him and us again. But we showed fight and that's what I'm looking for."