ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Kyle Hendricks’ 100th career victory created a full-circle moment.
The 35-year-old right-hander helped pitch the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night. And he got to celebrate his milestone with a mentor.
Former Angels left-hander Clyde Wright, who threw a no-hitter for the franchise in 1970, began tutoring Hendricks at his Anaheim pitching school when Hendricks, who grew up in South Orange County, was 12. Wright, now 84, finished his 10-year big league career with 100 wins in 1975.
“He came down to the clubhouse and gave me a hug, and I told him it only took 23 years after our first lesson to tie him,” said Hendricks, whose career record is 100-87. “I spent a couple of years with him at the beginning. He taught me how to start throwing a curveball, how to stay healthy with certain stuff.
“I kept pitching and kept loving the game because of him.”
Hendricks (3-6) was hardly dominant Friday night, giving up four runs and eight hits, striking out two and walking two in six innings. And his stuff, as usual, was not overpowering — his fastball topped out at 86.6 mph.
But he escaped a second-and-third, two-out jam in the fifth inning by getting Randy Arozarena to ground out. And he got some help in the fourth from right fielder Jorge Soler, who reached above the short wall in the corner to rob Rowdy Tellez of a potential grand slam before crashing into the fence.
“I thought it was a homer off the bat, so I was so surprised, man,” Hendricks said. “Thank God, (Soler) had my back today big-time.”
Tellez’s long fly — the first out of the inning — drove in a run. Leody Tavaras’ RBI groundout gave Seattle a 3-1 lead. But Travis d’Arnaud’s two-run homer off Mariners starter Bryce Miller (2-5) tied it at 3 in the bottom of the fourth.
Seattle took a 4-3 lead on Julio Rodriguez’s RBI triple in the fifth, but the Angels scored twice in the bottom of the inning to go up 5-4 — a rally that began when Jo Adell was hit by a pitch and he stole second.
Chris Taylor, after fouling off two sacrifice-bunt attempts, roped an RBI double to left-center for a 4-4 tie, and Nolan Schanuel’s RBI single made it 5-4.
Ryan Zeferjahn retired the side in order in the seventh, Reid Detmers struck out two of four batters in the eighth and Kenley Jansen threw a perfect ninth for his 13th save.
Jansen presented Hendricks with the game ball from the final out of the pitcher’s 100th career win.
“It’s one of those things that when you’re done playing and you look back, it will mean a lot,” said Hendricks, who won 97 games during his 11 years with the Chicago Cubs. “But in the heat of the moment, it was just a huge team win against an opponent toward the top of our division, so that’s the focus.”
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