Mariners vs. Angels Game Highlights (6/26/22) | MLB Highlights
Chaos marred a match between the Los Angeles Angels and the Seattle Mariners on Sunday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. A brawl happened between players from both teams, resulting in the ejection of two managers and six players. The mayhem lasted for only 4 minutes, but it caused an 18-minute delay of the game.
The tension between the two teams started when in the previous game, Mike Trout nearly got hit in the head by a fastball from the Mariners’ Erick Swanson. The Mariners claimed that it was accidental. Swanson even offered to walk Trout out of the field.
The Angels then made a sudden decision to have Andrew Wantz take the first mound for the Sunday game. It was only Wantz’s second chance to take the opening pitch this season. It proved to be a grave mistake.
In the first inning, Wantz threw the ball near the back of the head of Julio Rodriguez from the Mariners. Then, at the beginning of the second inning, his ball hit Jesse Winker’s hip. Angered by this, Winker then charged towards the Angels’ dugout after a yelling match with Phil Nevin, the Angels’ manager.
The Mariners accused the game’s umpires of erring to the Angels’ side regarding the warning issued after the incident between Wantz and Rodriguez. Marco Gonzales, a starter from the Mariners, lamented that Wantz should be ejected earlier in the game.
Because of this brawl, the Angels gave up Wantz, Ryan Tepera, and Raisel Iglesias. Iglesias became a highlight as he made a mess in the infield to protest his ejection. Meanwhile, the Mariners must continue the game without Rodriguez, Winker, and J. P. Crawford.
This is the eighth match between the two teams this season alone. Their previous match series happened on the Mariners’ turf with four wins out of five games for the Angels. Nevin argued that the intense scheduling might build tensions in both teams and that “things like this happen.”
Game Resumes
After the chaos, Jose Suarez (1-2) took over the pitch from Wantz. He achieved eight strikeouts over six innings of a five-hit ball. Oliver Ortega also contributed six strikeouts for his team. The Angels’ Luis Rengifo hit a homerun, followed by a tiebreaking run by his teammate, David MacKinnon, in the seventh inning.
The Mariners still provided some resistance, though. The team did an impressive road trip and finished 5-1. Abraham Toro, who replaced Crawford, also gave his team the game’s first run in the sixth.
The game ended with a win for the Angels with 2-1. Because of this win, the Los Angeles’ team avoided being swept in this 3-game series against the Mariners. The team looks forward to the next game against the Chicago White Sox, while the Mariners must face the Baltimore Orioles after that.
Although the game resumed as normal, this incident certainly marred the entire finale. They lost valuable players for mere scuffles, and Iglesias even apologized for disappointing baseball fans who had come to watch the game. The Angels and the Mariners will face each other again in the first weekend of August. We should anticipate whether they will move on from this event and show their best behavior in their next meeting.
