SEATTLE — Brandon Drury finally has a highlight for what has been a mostly forgettable season.
Drury’s eighth-inning single drove in the tie-breaking run in the Angels’ 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday afternoon.
It was the second hit of the game for Drury, who is now hitting .172 in a season interrupted by a hamstring injury and an illness.
His RBI single followed Willie Calhoun’s game-tying hit.
Relievers Luis Garcia and Carlos Estévez then worked two scoreless innings, allowing the Angels to come from behind to complete the sweep of the slumping Mariners. The Angels have beaten Seattle six times in a row, including three games in Anaheim earlier this month.
It’s too late to save the season for the Angels (45-57), but they certainly can feel better about their direction with a strong finish.
The same applies to Drury, a 31-year-old who last year was one of the Angels’ most consistent hitters.
It’s been a rough season for him this year. He returned from the hamstring injury on June 17, only to then miss nearly two weeks with an upper respiratory illness.
Drury has hit .169 since coming back from the injury, with no extra-base hits in 77 plate appearances.
Drury’s eighth-inning clutch hit was set up by Nolan Schanuel, who led off the inning with his second hit of the day. He advanced to second on a groundout and scored on Calhoun’s two-out hit. Pinch-runner Kevin Pillar took second on a balk, and then scored on Drury’s hit.
Up until the eighth, the Angels had done nothing at the plate, but the defense and Griffin Canning were keeping them in the game.
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Canning allowed only a Mitch Haniger home run in his five innings of work, an effective return after his previous outing was ended by a minor elbow issue.
Canning avoided further trouble with the help of some nice defense.
In the fourth inning, the Mariners loaded the bases with no outs. Tyler Locklear smoked a grounder to third baseman Luis Rengifo, who back-handed it, stepped on the bag, and threw home for a double play. Canning then struck out Luke Raley.
An inning later, right fielder Jo Adell sprinted toward the line to snag a drive by Cal Raleigh just before crashing into the wall. Adell saved Canning from what would have been a run-scoring extra-base hit.
More to come on this story.
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