Weaver Gets Win No. 9

At this rate, Mike Scioscia might consider watching every game the rest of the season from the Angels clubhouse.

The Angels are undefeated since their manager began serving a three-game suspension, and they made up 1 1/2 games in the American League West on a fabulous Friday in which they posted a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium.

Jered Weaver continued to excel no matter who was running things from the dugout, pitching seven scoreless innings and combining with relievers Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez on a four-hitter.

By winning the first nine decisions of his career, Weaver tied the American League record that Whitey Ford had set in 1950 with the New York Yankees.

“It’s great to be mentioned in the same sentence as Whitey Ford, that’s for sure,” said Weaver, who struck out seven, including the last two batters he faced in the seventh inning with runners on first and third. The rookie right-hander allowed three hits, walked one and hit a batter.

“I don’t know how you could get any better than what he’s doing,” said Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke, who filled in as manager for a second consecutive game while Scioscia served a suspension stemming from several incidents between the Angels and Texas Rangers earlier this week.

Rodriguez preserved the shutout by pitching a shaky ninth inning in which Adrian Beltre was initially awarded a home run on a drive just inside the left-field foul pole that a fan appeared to touch as he leaned over the wall.

Roenicke argued and the umpires reversed the call, sending Beltre back to second base with a ground-rule double. Beltre reached third on a wild pitch but was stranded when Rodriguez retired the final two batters in order.

There was no doubt about Mike Napoli’s fourth-inning homer, a two-run shot that marked the Angels catcher’s first homer and run batted in since July 15.

“It felt good,” said Napoli, who was hitting .043 in August when he stepped to the plate in the fourth. “The monkey’s off my back a little bit.”

The Angels pulled to within 4 1/2 games of Oakland in the AL West after the Athletics were swept by Kansas City in a doubleheader.

By contrast, the Mariners lost their ninth consecutive game and set a major league record for futility by dropping an 18th consecutive game within their division. Seattle’s last victory against an AL West opponent came June 11 against the Angels.

Weaver faced only one jam after hitting Beltre with a pitch and giving up a single to Raul Ibanez to put runners on first and third with nobody out in the seventh. Angels right fielder Juan Rivera kept Beltre put at third base with a strong home throw after Richie Sexson flied to medium right-center field for the first out.

Weaver then struck out Ben Broussard and Kenji Johjima, thrusting his right hand into his glove in excitement on the way toward the dugout as the sellout crowd gave him a standing ovation.

“It felt like I was at Long Beach State again, all those people standing up and cheering,” Weaver said. “I couldn’t help but get a little pumped up over that.”

So could Scioscia, who was more than a little relieved that Weaver hadn’t injured himself in the fourth inning when he stumbled on his delivery and rolled his right ankle.

“Right now Jered could throw through a brick wall,” Scioscia said.

Unable to shake the instinct, Scioscia caught himself putting on signs from his office seat while watching the last two games on television.

“Your heart is in every pitch and you’re putting out signs to a phantom team,” said Scioscia, who will return to the dugout Sunday. “It’s frustrating, but as long as we win I’m fine.”