Mariners rough up Escobar

If Vladimir Guerrero is, indeed, all right and was given Tuesday night off to “recharge,” as Mike Scioscia said, and not to rest some injury the team was concealing, then it turned out to be one shrewd move on the part of the Angels’ manager.

Guerrero, the slugger who leads the team in every meaningful offensive category, could have come to the plate a dozen times and not made a difference, because right-hander Kelvim Escobar was battered for eight runs in 2 1/3 innings, and the Angels were blown out by the Seattle Mariners, 11-3, in Safeco Field.

Ichiro Suzuki keyed a 14-hit attack with five singles, the sixth five-hit game of his career, and the Mariners sent 11 men to the plate during a six-run, six-hit, third-inning rally that took so long it seemed Seattle starter Felix Hernandez took the mound for the fourth inning with one day’s rest.

Escobar (4-2) was coming off one of his best starts as an Angel, a seven-hit, nine-strikeout shutout of Cleveland on Thursday. Tuesday may have been his worst start as an Angel and was his shortest start since July 13, 2003, when he was with Toronto.

“They hit my changeups, my sliders, my splitters -- it seems like everything I threw, they hit,” Escobar said. “I fell behind and wasn’t able to execute pitches.

“It wasn’t a good night for me, but you have to give Seattle a lot of credit. They have a good lineup with good hitters.”

Scioscia refused to pin the loss entirely on Escobar. Third baseman Chone Figgins’ first-inning throwing error led to two Seattle runs, and second baseman Maicer Izturis failed to field Raul Ibanez’s leadoff grounder in the third, a play that was ruled a double.

“This game wasn’t all on Kelvim,” Scioscia said. “Some things happened defensively that opened up some opportunities for them. We just didn’t play a good ballgame.”

Hernandez, the Seattle ace who was activated Tuesday after a four-week stint on the disabled list because of a strained right forearm, was on a pitch count, so he was pulled after giving up three runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.

But his 78-pitch outing was considered a success. His fastball looked crisp, often hitting 96 mph, and he struck out five. Right-hander Sean White relieved Hernandez and retired all 13 batters he faced from the fourth through eighth innings for his first major league victory.

The Angels seemed off kilter from the get-go, when first baseman Casey Kotchman made a diving stop of Suzuki’s one-hop smash in the first but tried to beat the speedy Ichiro to the bag instead of flipping to Escobar. Suzuki won that race.

Jose Vidro singled, Jose Guillen hit a two-out, run-scoring single, Vidro scored on Figgins’ error, and Guillen scored on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead.

Escobar had not given up a run in the first inning in any of his previous six starts this season, holding batters to an .053 average (one for 19) in that span.

The Angels pieced together a walk and three infield singles for a run in the top of the third, but any hope for a comeback was dashed in the bottom of the third.

Ibanez opened with his tough-hop double off Izturis’ glove, Richie Sexson walked, and Guillen lined an RBI double to left. Adrian Beltre followed with an RBI single and stole second and third, giving opponents 27 stolen bases in 31 attempts against Angels catcher Mike Napoli this season.

Kenji Johjima hit a sacrifice fly, Rafael Betancourt knocked in a run with a single, and Jose Lopez drove reliever Hector Carrasco’s first pitch for a two-run home run to left for a 9-1 lead.

“You want to make a quality start and give the team a chance to win, and that didn’t happen tonight,” Escobar said. “I’ve just got to turn the page and get ready for the next one.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com