​ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 24: Logan O’Hoppe #14 of the Los Angeles Angels is congratulated after hitting a walk-off single during the 10th inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on June 24, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images You stand alone in front of the growing crowd, their collective voices rising in a crescendo, feeding off of one another. “Piggyback!” yells one.“Piggybackburner!” yells another.“Dan’s in way over his head!” someone hollers, and then your body jolts back as the force of a ferry boat’s worth of garlic fries pummels your front.“Fire the hitting coaches!”“No! Fire the whole Front Office!”That last one is accompanied by a splash, as seemingly-coordinated cups of beer are hurled at you from multiple directions.“The bullpen sucks!”“The offense sucks more!”“It’s the Mariners – everything about them is bad and they always will be!”You begin to be pummeled with small, stuffed versions of Humpy. It doesn’t seem too bad at first, but there are so many of them that they start to subsume the stage. You lose your balance and fall over, and before you can lift yourself up there are Humpys heaped all over you, weighing down your body and muffling your face. Your breathing grows shallow.Off to the side, down a step and shrouded behind the curtain, someone cups their hand over their mouth and whisper-shouts “It’s okay! Their division is still really bad, and they’ve been hurt, and they have one of the lowest BABIPs in the league. Plus, they play the Angels this week!”GameTimeMariners StarterAngels StarterMariners Win%Guardians Win%Game 1Monday, June 29 | 6:40 pmRHP George KirbyRHP Ryan Johnson66.2%33.8%Game 2Tuesday, June 30 | 6:40 pmRHP Bryan WooRHP José Soriano63.0%37.0%Game 3Wednesday, July 1 | 1:00 pmBelgiumSenegal59.0%41.0%Game 4Thursday, July 2 | 6:40 pmRHP Bryce MillerRHP Walbert Ureña65.2%34.8%*Game odds courtesy of FanGraphsOverviewMarinersAngelsEdgeBatting (wRC+)101 (8th in AL)99 (10th in AL)MarinersFielding (FRV)-22 (14th)-24 (15th)MarinersStarting Pitching (FIP-)88 (2nd)98 (8th)MarinersBullpen (FIP-)88 (2nd)109 (12th)MarinersI do not say this lightly, but thank goodness for the Angels. They’ve recently jettisoned former GM Perry Minasian (unrelated to this author), but it seems unlikely that any true franchise change will happen while Arte Moreno still rules with his lumpy little fist. Based only on the small mercies of the Midwest, they are not the worst team in the American League, but they’ve been flirting with the title all season.PlayerPositionBatsPAK%BB%ISOwRC+Zach NetoSSR37132.3%10.5%0.219110Denzer Guzman3BR7320.5%8.2%0.179115Nolan Schanuel1BL27814.7%8.3%0.129103Jorge SolerDHR26431.8%9.8%0.19699Wade MecklerLFL11222.3%11.6%0.131120Jo AdellRFR35423.2%2.8%0.15291Donovan Walton2BL8919.1%3.4%0.188133Logan O’HoppeCR19824.2%7.1%0.11280Josh LoweCFL14628.8%4.1%0.14660Mike Trout had a torrid start to t