Willie Calhoun hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning, giving the Los Angeles Angels a 6-5 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
Calhoun had already hit a two-run homer in the first inning. His decisive shot in the 10th came on the second pitch from Austin Voth (2-3). Calhoun, who has been working hard recently, called it the first walk-off hit of his career, from the minors to the majors.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of work, especially over the last few months,” Calhoun said. “It’s great to see it pay off in the game.”
Calhoun, who had only hit one homer since May 12, enjoyed his third career multi-homer game as the Angels halted the Mariners’ three-game win streak and secured their third win in nine games.
“For both homers, I wasn’t trying to hit it hard,” Calhoun said. “In the 10th inning, I just wanted to hit a ground ball to the right side.”
In the bottom of the 10th, Mitch Garver hit a double with one out against Hans Crouse (2-0), scoring automatic runner Josh Rojas from second base. However, Crouse struck out Rodriguez and Ty France to halt the Mariners’ rally.
“They also have a strong bullpen,” said Seattle manager Scott Servais. “It was one of those games where it would come down to who could get a few big hits.”
Cal Raleigh hit his fifth homer in four days for Seattle, while Julio Rodríguez hit a two-run homer in the first inning.
Raleigh’s two-run blast in the third inning was his 20th of the season, and he has now hit three home runs in the last 10 innings at Angel Stadium. The catcher achieved the rare feat of hitting home runs from both sides of the plate on Thursday in San Diego, a feat he also accomplished on Tuesday.
Bryan Woo had a challenging return from the injured list for Seattle, giving up four runs on nine hits and two walks before being taken out in the fourth inning. After a strong start to the season, Woo had missed his last two turns in the rotation due to a hamstring injury.
