Sele Has Another Stellar Outing

Aaron Sele, we hardly recognized you.

That could be the refrain of Angels and Seattle Mariners fans who might have felt like a jilted spouse the last few weeks while checking Sele’s pitching lines in their morning paper.

They remember Sele as the once-promising right-hander with the sharp-breaking curveball who was a disappointing 24-24 with the Angels from 2002 to ’04 before plummeting to 6-12 with a 5.66 earned-run average last season with the Mariners.

The numbers Sele has posted this season are a little easier on the eyes.

The veteran continued his striking resurgence Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium by pitching seven shutout innings during the Dodgers’ 7-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Sele gave up only three hits and walked one for the surging Dodgers, who scored all seven runs with two out to complete a three-game sweep of the Rockies and extend their season-high winning streak to seven games.

Russell Martin’s bases-clearing double in the seventh inning broke open the game for the Dodgers, who remained half a game behind Arizona in the National League West. The Dodgers have outscored their opponents, 55-12, during their winning streak.

Those who have tracked Sele’s career might recall his tendency to sparkle early and then fizzle. Sele won his first eight starts during a previous stint with the Mariners in 2001 before going 7-5 the rest of the way.

Two years ago, Sele won his first four starts and became the first Angel to open a season 7-0. He finished 9-4 with a less-than-spectacular 5.05 ERA.

Still, the Dodgers are more than willing to see where things go from here after Sele retired 14 of the final 16 batters he faced Wednesday. He struck out five and allowed only one Rockies baserunner to reach second.

“It’s a long season, and you assess things at the end of the year,” said Sele, who lowered his ERA to 1.69. “I’m just happy to be up here and a part of this.”

The Rockies broke through for an unearned run in the eighth against reliever Jonathan Broxton, aided in part by Rafael Furcal’s error on a routine grounder. Nomar Garciaparra became the last everyday first baseman in the league to commit an error when he dropped a throw from Furcal in the ninth.

The Dodgers (27-20) moved a season-high seven games over .500 and swept a six-game homestand for the first time since beating Houston and San Diego on May 9-15, 1994. They have won six consecutive series for the first time since the middle of the 2004 season.

J.D. Drew and Jeff Kent provided the clutch hits the Dodgers needed against Rockies starter Aaron Cook (5-4), who lost for only the second time in his last 18 starts on the road. Drew and Kent each delivered two-out, run-scoring singles in the third inning to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

Sele said he did not have any theories as to why he appears far superior to the pitcher who had staggered through much of the last four seasons.

“I don’t worry about it,” he said. “I had a major shoulder surgery [in 2002] that put me on kind of a yo-yo. I don’t put too much stock in things that happened in the past. I just try to go out and compete and have fun.”

In each of his four starts this season since being promoted from triple-A Las Vegas to replace the erratic Odalis Perez, Sele (3-0) has pitched at least six innings and surrendered no more than two earned runs. “He’s throwing the ball right where he wants to,” Dodger Manager Grady Little said. “We just hope it continues.”