ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — George Kirby struck out a career-high 14 during seven innings of two-hit ball, and the Seattle Mariners snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
Kirby (1-3) issued no walks while retiring both his first 11 and his final 10 batters. His strikeouts were the most by a Mariners pitcher since James Paxton had 16 in May 2018, and he matched Miami's Max Meyer for the most strikeouts in a major league game this season.
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Los Angeles Angels' Taylor Ward, right, hits a two-run home run as Seattle Mariners catcher Mitch Garver watches during the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Seattle Mariners' J.P. Crawford, right, is forced out at second while Los Angeles Angels second baseman Scott Kingery us unable to throw out Julio Rodriguez at first during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout spits during his at-bat in the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez, left, is tagged out at third by Los Angeles Angels third baseman Luis Rengifo after being caught off base on a Dylan Moore grounded into a fielder's choice during the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Donovan Solano drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth, and Randy Arozarena had an early RBI double among his three hits as the Mariners avoided a series sweep with their fourth win in 14 games.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Halos, who struck out 18 times overall while losing for only the second time in six games.
Andrés Muñoz earned his 18th save, returning from a week off and rebounding from back-to-back blown save opportunities in which he allowed his first earned runs of the entire season.
Muñoz walked Jorge Soler leading off the ninth, but struck out Mike Trout to end it.
Tyler Anderson (2-3) yielded eight hits with six strikeouts while pitching into the fifth inning of his ninth consecutive winless appearance.
Arozarena hit a 345-foot single in the fifth when he failed to hustle out of the box, but he stole second and scored on Jorge Polanco's two-out single. Solano added another RBI single to chase Anderson.
Trout was the Angels’ first baserunner with a two-out single, and Ward immediately followed with his 18th homer. Kirby regrouped and struck out Chris Taylor with a perfect slider on the corner.
Trout tied Rafael Palmeiro's major league record of 435 total bases against Seattle before scoring his 145th run against the Mariners to tie Rickey Henderson for that career record.
Yusei Kikuchi (1-5, 3.23 ERA) takes the Big A mound Monday night against the Athletics. Emerson Hancock (2-2, 5.19) pitches for the Mariners at Arizona.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Los Angeles Angels' Taylor Ward, right, hits a two-run home run as Seattle Mariners catcher Mitch Garver watches during the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Seattle Mariners' J.P. Crawford, right, is forced out at second while Los Angeles Angels second baseman Scott Kingery us unable to throw out Julio Rodriguez at first during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout spits during his at-bat in the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez, left, is tagged out at third by Los Angeles Angels third baseman Luis Rengifo after being caught off base on a Dylan Moore grounded into a fielder's choice during the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
