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Jered Weaver pitches Angels past White Sox

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ON THE ANGELS

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia won’t admit to being superstitious. But there are a lot of things he repeats when his team wins.

After each victory, for example, his uniform pants are put in the hamper inside-out to keep the luck in. And after each win at home, he enters the locker room and shouts at the clubhouse attendant nearest the CD player to turn the music up.

“We want to hear that music,” center fielder Torii Hunter said. “It’s like a great feeling when you walk in. If you lose it’s silent. But if you win, you get the music and that’s our reward.”

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In that case, consider the Angels rewarded after Wednesday’s game.

Because after two nights of being serenaded by silence, the hip-hop was back at ear-splitting levels thanks to eight solid innings from Jered Weaver and a two-run, sixth-inning double by Bobby Abreu that lifted the Angels to a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox.

Weaver, who hasn’t lost at home this season and hasn’t lost to the White Sox in his career, was brilliant, giving up only a fourth-inning run on consecutive hits by Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome and a scoring fly ball from Paul Konerko.

He gave up only one hit after that, though, retiring 13 of the final 15 batters he faced.

“Weav is starting to figure some things out,” Scioscia said.

“His fastball command is really what has impressed me. Using the breaking ball. And that changeup is still dynamic.

“He’s putting pitches together better. He’s quietly having a terrific season.”

Quiet, of course, isn’t what the Angels want to hear when they come into the home clubhouse.

And they’ve heard plenty of music whenever Weaver pitches there. Wednesday’s victory left him 4-0 with a 1.21 earned-run average at Angel Stadium this season.

He’s also 4-0 lifetime with an 0.52 ERA against the White Sox.

“You could say a little smarter,” said Weaver, when asked what has made him tougher this season than last, when he went 11-10 with a 4.33 ERA.

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“When you first come up, it’s hitters trying to adjust to you. Then you get that little period where hitters kind of get adjusted to you. And then you try to figure it out after that.

“I’m learning every day.”

Chicago’s Gavin Floyd has obviously figured some things out as well, holding the Angels hitless through three innings and scoreless through five.

Jeff Mathis started the Angels’ only rally in sixth, ending an 0-for-15 skid with a single to left.

Chone Figgins followed with a single of his own before Abreu drove them both in with a double that short-hopped the wall in right field.

Two outs later, Juan Rivera scored Abreu with a double of his own to make it 3-1 Angels.

Weaver (4-2) and closer Brian Fuentes made sure that stood up with Fuentes pitching the ninth and earning his league-leading 13th save.

And for Hunter, whose team was outscored 21-5 in losing the first two games of the series with Chicago, all that added up to a loud clubhouse heading into today’s day off.

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“You always want to end the series on a positive note, whether you’re trying a sweep a series or you’re trying to win a series,” he said. “It was very important for us to get this win and go into that off day with a positive mind-set.”

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com

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