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Weaver brothers share a good day

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Jered Weaver has struggled lately to fine-tune his command, but he is never so wrapped up in himself that he can’t find time to chat with his older brother, Jeff, his teammate with the Angels last season and now part of the Seattle Mariners’ pitching staff.

Aware that Jeff was starting at Chicago on Sunday -- and sympathetic to his brother’s plight during a difficult season that was winless through late June -- the 24-year-old right-hander couldn’t resist taking frequent peeks at the out-of-town scoreboard. Jered was encouraged each time he spied a zero next to the White Sox’s name, and when he was told that Jeff had pitched a shutout, he was positively jubilant.

And, maybe, more than a little inspired.

Despite the six-year gap between 6-foot-5 Jeff and his 6-7 “little” brother, the Northridge-born siblings are not rivals. They chat at least every other day, Jered said, if not daily. A bond that has withstood the tests of time and distance has not been weakened by their unique position as competitors in a division race in which both figure to play prominent roles.

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Although they were far apart on Sunday, the duo may never have been closer. Jeff’s superb five-hit performance became a standard of excellence for Jered, who responded by giving up only two runs during a season-best 7 1/3 innings of the Angels’ 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

In winning for only the second time in his last eight starts -- he also had two losses and four no-decisions -- Jered Weaver maintained the Angels’ 3 1/2 -game lead over the Mariners. Knowing that his brother was experiencing the same kind of elation put a wide grin on Jered’s face, a perfect accompaniment to a nose turned sunburn-pink by the summer sun that scorched Angel Stadium.

“We’ve matched up a couple of times, but I think it was the first time the same day we both got a win out of it,” said Weaver, who reluctantly yielded to Justin Speier after Alexi Casilla singled up the middle on Weaver’s 93rd pitch.

“It was a good day for the Weavers today.”

It was a good day for the Angels too, a triumphant final flourish to a 5-1 homestand that extended their major league-best home record to 40-17. But next up are some of the most difficult of the 22 road games left on their schedule, starting Tuesday with a three-game series at Toronto and four at Boston.

They know this much: If they are to stay ahead of Seattle, they will need the efficient, confident Jered Weaver they saw Sunday.

That’s the pitcher who consistently got ahead and didn’t let many batters go deep in the count. Who didn’t walk anyone -- a distinction his brother shared -- and who located his fastball well and threw a lively breaking ball that kept the Twins off stride.

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“He didn’t pick at the plate, either. He got two strikes on someone, he went right at him,” said Mike Butcher, the Angels’ pitching coach.

Weaver has been trying to remember to take charge each time he’s on the mound and dispense with hitters quickly, not letting them settle in and get comfortable.

“I’m not going to be able to strike everybody out. It’s not college anymore,” said Weaver, who excelled at Long Beach State and was the Angels’ first-round draft pick in 2004.

“I was able to get ahead and had a lot of help with the defensive end, as always. And the boys were able to get some runs later, and that kind of helped me out a little bit.”

Every game was like that for him last season, when he was 9-0 and tied an American League rookie record for the best start to a career. His course this season has not been as smooth.

After a 1-3 start, he won five consecutive decisions through mid-June. But his efforts went unrewarded for the next month, when he gave up six earned runs in four starts from June 27 to July 21 but received little run support and had two losses and two no-decisions.

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Then, he was rocked for six runs in consecutive starts against Detroit and Seattle but rebounded for a two-run performance against Boston last Monday in which he didn’t get a decision.

“It’s a long season and there’s going to be some bad-luck times and some good times,” he said. “I got on a really good roll last year, and this year it’s been a battle.”

The one battle he hasn’t had to face is pitching against his brother, but with the Angels and Mariners due to play seven more times, that could happen in the next few weeks. Butcher said he’d wouldn’t avoid scheduling Jered to oppose Jeff.

Jered is dreading the prospect.

“We were looking forward to matching up, but at the same time, hopefully we don’t,” he said.

“It would be kind of weird. I would have to be in the situation to see how I’d feel. Right now, I’d rather pass on that.”

Proving that brotherly love is more powerful than a pennant race -- at least for the moment.

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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.

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