Fear Is Struck Out by Weaver

Jered Weaver couldn’t corral Fernando Valenzuela in baseball’s record books, but he has another of the game’s legends in his sights, a New York Yankees Hall of Famer who went 236-106 and pitched in 11 World Series, a little left-hander by the name of Whitey Ford.

Weaver, showing no fear in one of baseball’s most intimidating environments, gave up one run and three hits in six innings of the Angels’ 5-3 victory in Yankee Stadium on Sunday, improving to 8-0 and ending a string of three consecutive no-decisions.

The rookie right-hander fell one short of Valenzuela’s 1981 record of wins in his first eight big-league starts, but with one more victory the former Long Beach State star would become the first American League pitcher to win his first nine decisions since Ford went 9-0 as a rookie in 1950.

“Let’s get there first,” Weaver said, downplaying the significance of his achievement.

As hard as Weaver had to work Sunday, it didn’t look like the 23-year-old would get through five innings, the requirement for a starter to be eligible for a win. His pitch count after three innings was 70.

But once he got a better feel for umpire Marvin Hudson’s tight strike zone -- and started getting a few calls -- Weaver cruised through the fourth, fifth and sixth innings in 34 pitches, his only blemish Craig Wilson’s solo home run in the fifth.

Weaver and the Angels made a rare three-run, first-inning outburst against Yankees right-hander Chien-Ming Wang, who had given up three first-inning runs in 24 previous starts this season, stand up.

Scot Shields gave up consecutive homers to Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi in the ninth, but Francisco Rodriguez retired Jorge Posada on a fly to left for his 30th save, enabling the Angels to remain 4 1/2 games behind Oakland.

“It’s not really amazing, because he knows how to pitch and has great stuff,” second baseman Adam Kennedy said of Weaver, who struck out eight and walked three. “With that, whether you’re 23 or 30, you’re going to be able to succeed.”

Unlike fellow rookie Joe Saunders, who couldn’t get his left leg to stop shaking in the first inning Friday, Weaver didn’t look rattled by his surroundings. It was Hudson -- and not the hostile Yankees fans -- who got under Weaver’s skin.

Weaver thought he had Johnny Damon struck out on a full-count pitch in the third and looked visibly upset when he didn’t get the call. Pitching coach Bud Black came to the mound to calm Weaver and barked a few choice words at Hudson.

Weaver then walked Derek Jeter before right fielder Juan Rivera made a nice sliding catch of Bobby Abreu’s shot to the gap to end the inning. As he walked toward the dugout, Weaver screamed into his glove.

“Obviously, I know it’s going to happen,” Weaver said. “It’s a matter of letting it roll off your shoulders and getting to the next pitch. A young pitcher has got to get into a groove until these [umpires] get a feel for what you’re throwing.”

In his first spring-training start in March, Weaver thought he got squeezed by umpire Gerry Davis. Afterward, he said his older brother, then-Angels pitcher Jeff Weaver, told him to expect such treatment.

After a few close calls didn’t go Weaver’s way in Fenway Park on July 29, Kennedy had a chat with the pitcher.

“He got a little taste of not getting the pitches you want in Boston,” Kennedy said. “You have to challenge the hitters, as good as they are. You can’t nibble because you’re not going to get many borderline calls.”

Weaver did challenge hitters in the fourth. He struck out Rodriguez looking to start the inning, a call the cleanup batter disputed, and got Posada looking to end the inning, but not before catcher Mike Napoli, on a previous pitch, took two steps toward the dugout thinking it was strike three.

“You have to be good enough to absorb a bloop hit, an error, or a pitch you don’t agree with,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “You have to get to the next pitch.”

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Fast starters

Angels rookie starting pitchers have performed remarkably well this season:

*--* Pitcher IP H ER BB SO W-L ERA JERED WEAVER 71.1 50 17 19 58 8-0 2.14 JOE SAUNDERS 27 18 5 10 18 4-0 1.67 DUSTIN MOSELEY 5 10 4 0 2 1-0 7.20 TOTALS 103.1 78 26 29 78 13-0 2.26

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