Mariners 3 - 1 Angels
Final
  for this game

Mariners turn to Walker against Angels

Jun 26, 2015 - 2:21 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Seattle Mariners will hope that young hurler Taijuan Walker can stay on the winning track Friday night in the opener of a three- game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Walker is set to face the Angels for the first time having gone 4-1 with a 2.04 earned run average over his last five outings, moving him to 5-6 on the year while lowering his season ERA to 4.94. It stood at 7.33 prior to his current five-outing run in which he hasn't allowed more than three runs in a start.

The 22-year-old righty shook off a pair of solo homers to win a third straight start on Saturday, 6-3 over Houston. Walker yielded three runs on five hits and fanned a career-high 11 without giving up a walk.

The Mariners lost for the third time in four games with Wednesday's 8-2 setback to the Kansas City Royals. Roenis Elias allowed seven runs on five hits in just 3 2/3 frames to take the loss. He was perfect through the first three innings before things fell apart in the fourth.

"It was a tough day out there for us, but there was some good things we did," said Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon. "We came out with a lot of energy and we competed well, but things got away quickly."

Recalled from Triple-A earlier in the day, Franklin Gutierrez drove in a run for the Mariners.

Matt Shoemaker will make his first start for the Angels tonight since last Friday looking to continue his career-long success versus the Mariners. He was scheduled to start Wednesday before getting pushed back.

Shoemaker is 3-1 lifetime versus the Angels with a 2.67 ERA over six games (5 starts), picking up that lone loss the last time he faced them on May 4. However, he gave up just three runs on four hits over 7 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts.

The right-hander lasted only four innings in a no-decision at Oakland on Friday, charged with five runs on eight hits and a walk. He struck out just two and gave up a pair of homers, remaining 4-5 on the year with a 5.20 ERA.

The Angels opted to give Andrew Heaney his season debut on Wednesday in Shoemaker's place and the hurler gave up only one run on four hits and a walk over six innings of a no-decision. He fanned five in the Angels' 2-1 win over the Houston Astros in 13 innings.

Los Angeles won the rubber match of the three-game series when Taylor Featherston's two-out bloop single to right scored Erick Aybar.

"It was a slider and I just got enough of it," Featherston said. "You see walk-off wins on TV. I was blessed that my time was today."

The hit made a winner of Jose Alvarez, who held the Astros scoreless while recording five outs.

The Angels are 4-2 against the Mariners this season.






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