OC Register: Angels complete sweep of Mariners with 4-2 victory

[AngelsWin.com]

• Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons stretches as he snags a line drive from Seattle Mariners’ Jean Segura in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

• Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Parker Bridwell throws against the Seattle Mariners in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

• Seattle Mariners’ Yonder Alonso, left, slides safely into home to score as Los Angeles Angels catcher Martin Maldonado loses control of the ball in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

• Seattle Mariners’ Yonder Alonso, left, slides safely into home to score as Los Angeles Angels catcher Martin Maldonado reaches to tag him in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

• Los Angeles Angels’ Cliff Pennington, right, lays down a bunt as Seattle Mariners catcher Carlos Ruiz, center, and umpire Chris Segal, left, watch in the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, in Seattle. Pennington singled on the play. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

• Los Angeles Angels’ Martin Maldonado singles in a pair of runs against the Seattle Mariners in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

• Los Angeles Angels’ Jefry Marte, right, scores as Albert Pujols greets him and points toward first base as Seattle Mariners catcher Carlos Ruiz, left, looks away in the fifth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, in Seattle. Marie and Pujols both scored on a single by Martin Maldonado. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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SEATTLE — As Keynan Middleton stood on the mound at Safeco Field on Sunday, with 44 games worth of major league experience and about 43,199 reasons to feel the heat, he was able to stay calm and perform.

“I have a job to do,” Middleton explained later. “I’m not really worried about it. I’m doing whatever I can to get outs.”

He got the three he needed, preserving the Angels’ 4-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners, running their winning streak to a season-high six and finishing their first four-game road sweep in three years.

Middleton gave up one run, a bend-but-don’t-break outing that was exactly what the Angels needed after the nightmares they had endured two Sundays in a row.

Last week the Angels’ blew a five-run lead in the seventh, and the week before that they gave up seven runs in the ninth to lose by a run. This time, they carried a 4-1 lead into the ninth, built with Parker Bridwell’s six innings and Martin Maldonado’s two-run single in a three-run fifth.

Manager Mike Scioscia has been trying to ease the workload on his relievers, so he went with Middleton instead of Cam Bedrosian, who had pitched the ninth on Thursday and Saturday.

Middleton, however, was working for the fifth time in six games, and third in a row. He’d only thrown five pitches on Saturday, but they were five of the game’s biggest pitches, retiring Nelson Cruz to preserve a tie.

The first two batters he faced on Sunday were Robinson Cano and Cruz, and he gave up a single and a double, putting runners at second and third and bringing the potential tying run to the plate.

That’s when Safeco Field, packed for the conclusion of a weekend devoted to Edgar Martinez, was rocking.

It’s when Angels fans may have been having nasty flashbacks to the past two Sundays.

But not the Angels.

“He’s got explosive stuff,” C.J. Cron said. “His stuff is so good he can get out of any jam. He has plenty of confidence, so we felt confident in him no matter how the inning started.”

Middleton struck out Kyle Seager. He gave up an opposite-field single to Jarrod Dyson, bringing in a run. He then got Guillermo Heredia and Leonys Martin on fly balls to end the game, locking up the Angels’ first four-game sweep on the road since September 2014 in Minnesota.

“Keynan answered the bell,” Scioscia said. “It’s one thing when you have a clean inning. It’s another thing when you have second and third and they have three shots with the tying run at the plate. I think he kept his composure. Martin did a great job with him. He made pitches and got out of the jam.”

It was Middelton’s second save of the week, this one coming with plenty of his friends and family members up from Oregon to watch him pitch.

“Getting put in those situations definitely makes me feel better than just cleaning up innings that don’t mean anything,” he said. “When I get out there, my adrenaline is pumping.”

Middleton finished what another Angels rookie started.

Bridwell, who also pitched the first game of the current winning streak, gave up one run in six innings, on 88 pitches. Two of the game’s first three hitters reached base, putting runners at second and third and one out, but he escaped with one run. After that, he worked around leadoff singles in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

The Angels have now won 11 of the 12 games in which Bridwell has appeared. He is 7-1 with a 2.88 ERA.

“He’s given us a shot in the arm,” said Cron, whose fifth homer in his last 13 games tied the game 1-1 in the third. “He’s kind of been that stopper for us. Every time he goes out, he’s given us some solid innings. That’s what we need. That’s what every team needs. He’s done a great job. He continues to impress.”

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