ANAHEIM — Jo Adell got back to the warning track in time, leapt and the ball barely eluded him, hitting the wall just over the fence for a first-inning three-run homer.
The Angels’ center fielder spent the rest of the night trying to get those runs back.
He eventually did, with two homers and three RBIs, doing much of the damage for the Angels on their way to an 8-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.
The Angels trailed by three after Adell failed to prevent Cal Raleigh’s homer in the first, and by four when the Mariners added a run in the second.
After that, though, the Angels dominated the rest of the night. The Angels scored in six straight innings for the first time since April 19, 2011.
The Angels (30-33) have won four of their last five games, taking the first two of this three-game series against the team directly ahead of them in the American League West standings.
A handful of players contributed on a night that they bailed out starter Jack Kochanowicz, but Adell was the headliner.
Since May 21, Adell has hit .313 with six homers and a 1.150 OPS in 15 games. He has three multi-homer games this season, including one on Monday.
Both homers on Monday were on the first pitch, and Adell said the key to his surge has been aggression early in the count.
“There were at-bats two or three weeks ago, kind of repeatedly that I was getting to 3-2 counts, kind of fouling pitches off, having good at bats,” Adell said on Saturday. “But I’d let some pitches go by early in the count that we thought collectively that I probably should be more aggressive on. So that was definitely a conversation about what I’m looking at early in the count and understanding that these guys are trying to get ahead. If I could put swings off early, it gives us a good chance.”
His first homer on Saturday night, a 431-foot blast to left field against Luis Castillo, was also on the first pitch. Adell has hit eight of his 11 homers this season on the first pitch. Adell’s fourth-inning homer against Castillo was a 454-foot blast onto the rocks beyond the center field fence. He added an RBI single in the seventh.
“He’s swinging the bat,” Manager Ron Washington said. “He’s not missing his pitches. He’s very aggressive earlier and seeing the ball well. There was some pitches he was swinging at earlier, he not swinging at them now. Fighting pitches off, getting pitches back in the zone and barreling them up.”
Chris Taylor got the scoring started for the Angels with a second-inning homer. Taylor had just entered the game because Jorge Soler exited with groin tightness. Washington said after the game that he’s not sure if Soler will need to go on the injured list.
In between the Adell homers, the Angels scored two runs with the help of some sloppy Mariners defense. Center fielder Leody Taveras, who entered after Julio Rodriguez was hit in the leg by a ground ball while running the bases, misplayed two catchable balls.
First baseman Rowdy Tellez also failed to handle a low throw from Raleigh on what should have been a routine out on a dribbler in front of the plate.
All of that helped to take Kochanowicz off the hook on another rough night.
The Angels had high hopes for the 24-year-old right-hander, but through 13 starts, he has a 5.61 ERA.
“Obviously I’m grinding right now,” Kochanowicz said. “The main thing that jumps out to me is just the lack of control. That’s never been me, but I feel like the only way to go about it is just to continue to try to get better. There’s only one way to go. That’s up.”
The first thing that went wrong for him was Adell failing to make the catch on Raleigh’s homer. Adell said he jumped too high.
“If any part of the ball touches that wall (over the fence), it’s a homer,” Adell. “So my immediate thoughts when I’m going back to the wall is trying to get as high as I can to see if I could at least put a glove on it, to put something up there. And I just jumped a hair too early on that play. I wish I could have had it.”
Although Adell could have helped him, Kochanowicz still gave up eight other hits in his 3⅓ innings.
Kochanowicz left with one out and runners on the corners in the fourth inning. Right-hander Connor Brogdon stranded them both, preserving the 4-4 tie. Brogdon has allowed one run in his last 8⅓ innings.
Brogdon tacked on a scoreless inning, and then Hector Neris, Reid Detmers, Ryan Zeferjahn and Kenley Jansen handled the final 5⅔ innings, allowing just two runs.
Jansen has converted all 14 of his save opportunities this season.
“The offense picked me up,” Kochanowicz said. “The bullpen was absolutely huge. They’ve been awesome lately. I’m gonna keep grinding.”