MLB Game Preview - LA Angels at Seattle

Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:10 PM EDT

Dee Gordon understands what the Los Angeles Angels are going through.

In 2016, Gordon was a member of the Miami Marlins when ace pitcher Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident.

In the Marlins' next game, the light-hitting Gordon led off with an emotional home run.

So Gordon wasn't surprised when the Angels no-hit his current team, the Seattle Mariners, last Friday in their first home game since the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs. Opener Taylor Cole pitched the first two innings and Felix Pena went the rest of the way as the Angels won 13-0.

"I got one thing to say, and I said it three years ago, and I'm gonna be done with it: If you don't believe in God, you might wanna start," Gordon told MLB.com. "I said it three years ago when I hit the homer for Jose. They had a no-hitter (last Friday). Y'all better start. And that's all I got."

The Angels went on to sweep the three-game series against the Mariners. The teams will meet again Friday night in Seattle.

"That was one of the most special moments I have been a part of on a major league field, 25 years," Angels manager Brad Ausmus said. "Just the way the game went, and culminating with a no-hitter. You feel like it's partly Skaggy's no-hitter."

The Angels, who all wore Skaggs' No. 45 that night, laid their jerseys on the mound after the game.

"It was a great idea just to honor him one last time," Angels center fielder Mike Trout told MLB.com. "It was a special moment for all of us as a team. What this team's been through, this is obviously the worst thing that can happen for a team. Emotionally the team came together. To be out there where he loved to pitch from, where he dominated and threw that curveball, that came from the sky.

"Just to honor him one more time meant a lot to me. It was just a great, great moment for our team to stand around the mound and honor him again."

Trout returned Thursday after missing three games with a right calf strain, going 1-for-4 with a double and scoring a run as the Angels' designated hitter.

The Angels won their first five games after the All-Star break before suffering losses the past two days to the American League West-leading Houston Astros, including a 6-2 decision Thursday night in Anaheim, California.

The Mariners, who had Thursday off, have lost six in a row, outscored 54-13 in that span.

"We're getting beat consistently. It comes down to everybody chipping in and doing their part," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "You don't have to do more than you're capable of, you just have to do your job."

The Angels have not yet announced their starter for the series opener. The Mariners are scheduled to use right-hander Mike Leake (7-8, 4.60 ERA), who took the loss last Friday in the shortest start of his 10-year career. Leake lasted just two-thirds of an inning and allowed eight hits and seven runs (four earned).

Leake is 5-5 with a 4.33 ERA in 10 career starts against the Angels, though he's 1-2 with a 6.59 ERA in three outings against them this season.

While Trout returned to the Angels lineup Thursday, first baseman Albert Pujols left in the eighth inning with left hamstring tightness and is considered day-to-day.

--Field Level Media