Streak intact, Fletcher (4 RBIs) powers Halos

SEATTLE -- Angels second baseman David Fletcher finished the first half of the season with an offensive flurry, as he extended his hit streak to 24 games with a four-hit, four-RBI performance on Sunday afternoon.

Fletcher had a slow start to the season, but he has been on an absolute tear since mid-June and kept it rolling in a 7-1 win over the Mariners in the series finale at T-Mobile Park. He’s hitting .439 (43-for-98) during his 24-game hitting streak, which is the third-longest in Angels history and the third-longest in the Majors over the past five seasons. It’s helped him bring his average up from .255 on June 13 to .309 heading into the All-Star break.

"Spectacular," Angels manager Joe Maddon said. "I don't wish anybody ill, but I'd love to see him sneak his way into the [All-Star] Game on Tuesday somehow. Everything he's done, his whole body of work going into the break. He's at 24 games, and the defense is unmatched and the baseball mind is unmatched. Not enough superlatives."

Fletcher sparked the offense, driving in all four runs, including a solo homer in the third off lefty Héctor Santiago to tie the game at 1. It was only Fletcher’s second homer of the season, but it was also his second of the series, as he had a leadoff blast on Friday.

"It's exciting," Fletcher said. "It feels good. It's always nice to hit a homer. And getting a lot of hits is always fun."

Fletcher came through yet again in the fifth with two runners in scoring position and one out. Fletcher plated both runs on a single to right on a 1-1 fastball from right-handed reliever Yohan Ramirez to give the Angels a two-run lead.

It was more of the same in the seventh, as Juan Lagares led off the frame with a double and scored on Fletcher’s RBI single to left-center, which came on a 1-0 slider from former Angels reliever Keynan Middleton.

Fletcher’s fourth hit was a leadoff single in the ninth on a first-pitch fastball from reliever Rafael Montero. It started a two-run rally for the Angels, as Shohei Ohtani followed with a walk and All-Star Jared Walsh brought home Fletcher with an RBI single before Phil Gosselin plated a run on a sacrifice fly.

"He's like a magician,” Maddon said. “He's deflecting credit everywhere else while he's building up this incredible body of work. He could not be more confident right now. You can't feel better about him being on our team right now."

Fletcher will have to wait until after the All-Star break to extend his hit streak, which is the third-longest in Angels history behind only Garret Anderson's 28-game streak in 1998 and Rod Carew's 25-game streak in 1982. And over the past five seasons, the only longer streaks in the Majors are Whit Merrifield's 31 in 2018 with the Royals and Wilson Ramos' 26 with the Mets in '19.

Fletcher has a long way to go to catch Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak, but Maddon said he’s having fun watching Fletcher go about his business every day.

"Pete Rose was 44, so there's other streaks to be caught first,” Maddon said. “But I love this guy. If you're around him enough in the dugout and in the clubhouse, you'd always be in awe. That's just who he is. I'm really pleased to be working with him right now. I feel really fortunate about that, and things are only going to get better."