Julio Rodríguez, Victor Robles help Mariners win opener vs. Angels

ANAHEIM– A big first inning was enough to cure the Mariners’ recent road woes.

Seattle sent 11 men to the plate and scored five runs in the top of the first inning en route to a 9-5 victory over the Angels on Friday night at Angel Stadium. The Mariners never trailed as they kicked off their 10-game road trip with a win to remain four games back of the American League West division lead and 4 1/2 of the final AL Wild Card spot.

“Great way to start the road trip, for sure,” said manager Dan Wilson. “Putting pressure on them early on, giving our pitchers a chance to get into the ballgame. I thought that was huge.”

The Mariners immediately jumped on Angels starter Sam Aldegheri, who was making his Major League debut. Jorge Polanco got the scoring started with a hard line drive that shortstop Zach Neto couldn’t handle to bring two runs home, Mitch Garver added a two-run double into the left-field corner and Victor Robles lofted an RBI single to give the Mariners a 5-0 lead just nine batters into the game.

“Debuts can be different,” said Garver, who finished 2-for-5. “We had a good game plan going in. He wasn’t able to land his off-speed early. … We found a way on base and then capitalize on that.”

It was just the Mariners’ second win in their last 11 road games.

“These guys understand that we had a good [previous] homestand,” Wilson said. “I think we gained some momentum and some confidence there, and these guys have just brought that same spirit to the ballpark here on the road.”

Rodríguez and Robles led the way offensively. Robles went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Rodríguez reached base four times as he rounds into form after returning from a sprained ankle.

Rodríguez walked and scored in the first to start the Mariners’ big inning and delivered what turned out to be the decisive blast with his fourth-inning homer.

Aldegheri tried to challenge Rodríguez with a first-pitch fastball on the inner half, but Rodríguez turned on it and sent it a Statcast-projected 400 feet to the rockpile in left-center. The ball left his bat at 101.6 mph.

He finished 1-for-2 with a homer, two RBIs, three walks and three runs scored.

“Really, tonight the story is the offense,” Wilson said. “Julio, another big home run, three walks tonight. The offense continues to roll, and it’s a good sign. It’s good to see.”

The offensive effort was enough to back George Kirby, who picked up the win despite allowing five runs in 5 2/3 innings. He surrendered a leadoff homer to Taylor Ward in the first and back-to-back homers to Mickey Moniak and Brandon Drury in the fifth.

Despite being staked to an early lead, Kirby brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth before being pulled. He finished August with a 6.84 ERA in five starts.

“It’s very frustrating,” Kirby said. “It’s a little bit of mechanics and I’m trying to look at video and stuff like that. But it’s so small. I know it’s so small, so I don’t want to look into it too much. That’s the frustrating part. I don’t really know what it is yet, but I know it’s tiny. So, you know, just keep working at it.”

Overall, the Mariners are averaging five runs per game since Wilson took over. While it’s a small sample, it represents a welcome turnaround from their previous offensive struggles. During their 1-8 road trip that led to manager Scott Servais’ firing, they averaged less than three runs per game.

Now, with the offense rolling, they are finally winning the games they need to in order to make a postseason push.

“We’ve got a long road trip ahead of us, and there’s a lot of baseball to be played on this roadie,” Wilson said. “This is a great way to start it. Get some confidence and the offense rolling.”