Angels’ Byrd Chips Away at the Mariners

If there were any doubts about the Angels’ decision last winter to let Aaron Sele walk as a free agent and sign Paul Byrd to a one-year, $5-million contract, they were put to rest Monday night in Angel Stadium by both pitchers.

The proof was in the pounding.

Byrd pounded the strike zone all night, getting ahead of Seattle hitters with a barrage of first-pitch strikes and giving up one run in eight innings of a 6-1 victory over the Mariners in front of 39,638.

Sele, who signed with the Mariners in January after three Angel seasons marked by injuries and inconsistency, was simply pounded.

Right fielder Vladimir Guerrero ripped a two-run home run in the third inning, and first baseman Darin Erstad added a three-run shot in the fourth, as the Angels rocked Sele for six runs and eight hits in four innings.

Erstad added a double, a walk and scored three runs, and Orlando Cabrera and Chone Figgins each had three hits to help the Angels end a two-game losing streak.

Byrd gave up 11 hits, but four were infield singles. He struck out three and walked none to lower his earned-run average from 6.92 to 4.71 and gain his first victory as an Angel.

Byrd held Ichiro Suzuki, the speedy leadoff batter who began the game with a .447 average, hitless in four at-bats. Of Byrd’s 104 pitches, 78 were strikes. The veteran right-hander threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 34 batters he faced.

“Strike one, that’s my game,” said Byrd, who has gone seven, six and eight innings in his first three starts. “My game isn’t Randy Johnson’s game or Jamie Moyer’s game. It’s keeping the ball down, throwing strikes, working fast, working corners, throwing a little bit of everything. There’s no one pitch I’m known for. I’m a jack-of-all-trades.”

Indeed, the 34-year-old Byrd, who sat out the 2003 season because of elbow surgery, throws a sinking fastball, a cut fastball, a curve, a slider, a changeup and occasionally toys with a screwball.

“He threw everything tonight -- I think there was a kitchen sink in there somewhere, and he got an out with that too,” catcher Josh Paul said. “He’s a fun guy to catch. He’s a thinking pitcher. It’s fun to get on his page and go along for the ride.”

Seattle broke up Byrd’s shutout in the eighth inning when Bret Boone doubled to left field with one out and Raul Ibanez singled to left, scoring Boone. Randy Winn grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Byrd’s only real trouble before the eighth came in the third, when center fielder Steve Finley caught Adrian Beltre’s fly ball on the warning track in left-center field after a long run to end the inning with a runner on first, and in the sixth, when the Mariners loaded the bases with one out on three singles.

But Byrd (1-2) jammed Winn with a first-pitch fastball that shattered Winn’s bat and resulted in a weak pop-up to third baseman Dallas McPherson. Miguel Olivo popped to first to end the inning, the Angels maintaining their 6-0 lead.

“It’s all about location and timing,” Byrd said. “You try to spread out the hits, not walk anyone and let your defense make the plays.”

A little offense never hurt.

Erstad led off the first inning with a double to left field, took third on Jeff DaVanon’s bunt single and scored on Garret Anderson’s sacrifice fly to deep center field for a 1-0 lead. Guerrero followed Erstad’s walk in the third by blasting a hanging Sele curve over the wall in left-center for his fourth home run and a 3-0 lead.

The Angels blew the game open in the fourth with a two-out rally that began with Paul’s single to center. Figgins’ hit-and-run single to right moved Paul to third, and Erstad golfed a low 2-and-2 curve high off the right-field foul pole for a three-run homer -- his second -- and a 6-0 lead.

“It came down to two pitches, two hanging curveballs with two outs,” Sele said. “They’re good hitters, and they hit them out of the park.”