ANAHEIM, Calif. — They felt like home runs off the bat. They looked like homers as they headed to the right-field fence.
They weren’t home runs because of the ridiculous athleticism, effort and execution of Angels right fielder Jo Adell.
The organization’s former top prospect, who turns 27 next week, was known for his power-hitting potential.
But on Saturday night at Angels Stadium, he glove-handedly destroyed the Mariners victory hopes, helping hold Seattle scoreless on the night with three homer-robbing catches and leading the Angels to a 1-0 victory.
Some outfielders can play an entire career and maybe rob one home run. Adell did it to Cal Raleigh in the first inning. He stole one from Josh Naylor in the eighth inning. But it was his catch in the ninth, saving the best for last, that could be the best of the season given the difficulty and the circumstances.
With the Mariners trailing 1-0 in the top of the ninth, J.P. Crawford hammered a high fly ball to the right-field corner. The fence in that area is only about 4-feet high. Given how hard he hit, it seemed like Crawford had tied the game. He jogged down the line watching it go out.
The ball did go over the fence, but its path was interrupted by Adell’s glove. Running at full sprint, Adell leaped toward the fence, knowing he would likely go over and into the crowd. Safety be damned, he caught he ball in mid flight and tumbled into the stands.
The Mariners asked for a replay review, hoping the ball might have gone out. It didn’t. As the umpires in New York watched replays, the Angels video screen replayed multiple angles of the catch in slow motion, each one seemingly making it more impressive.
The Mariners wasted another outstanding start from Emerson Hancock. The right-hander tossed 6 2/3 innings allowing one run on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
The one run allowed came immediately in what was hectic first inning for Hancock. The fourth pitch of his outing — a 96-mph fastball on 2-1 count — was turned into a leadoff homer by Zach Neto.
It looked like the Angels might tack on more when Nolan Schanuel doubled to left-center and Jorge Soler snuck a single through the right side to put runners on the corners with one out. But Hancock came back to strike out Yoan Moncada for the second out of the inning.
The third out, well, that was a little unusual. Facing the right-handed hitting Adell, Hancock uncorked a wayward sweeper into the other batter’s box. Raleigh couldn’t glove it. The ball ricocheted off the back stop and started rolling back as a hustling Raleigh slid on his knees to grab it, spun and fired back toward home plate as he fell toward the ground. The throw was perfect. It hit Hancock’s glove right in front of the plate for an easy tag on Schanuel to end the inning.
Given a chance to relax and reset after the wild top of the first, Hancock settled in worked the next 5 2/3 inning scoreless before giving way to Eduard Bazardo.