Angels get close to a title

Their slugger was Vlad as hell, and he wasn’t going to take it any more.

Neither were the Angels, who whipped Seattle, 9-5, Thursday night to reduce their magic number for clinching the American League West title to one and give Manager Mike Scioscia his 700th victory but were too riled up afterward to appreciate the significance of it all.

Tired of being hit and knocked down by so many pitches, Vladimir Guerrero watched a sixth-inning fastball by Seattle reliever Jorge Campillo zoom over his head and did what he had never done in four seasons in Anaheim: He charged the mound.

Well, sort of.

Guerrero, who responded to Campillo’s fourth-inning brushback pitch by crushing a two-run home run, pointed toward the right-hander and took several steps toward the mound. For the normally restrained Guerrero, this was an overt act of aggression.

Campillo, who was warned after his fourth-inning pitch near Guerrero’s head, was immediately ejected, along with Seattle Manager John McLaren. A bearhug by Mariners first baseman Ben Broussard prevented Guerrero from reaching the mound, but within seconds that mound swarmed with angry Angels and Mariners.

Both benches and bullpens emptied, and pitcher John Lackey led the charge for the Angels, jumping into the fray and attempting a punch.

“If that guy’s not suspended for a month, something is wrong, because those two pitches were as flagrant as they get,” Scioscia said of Campillo. “And if it came from the bench, that’s even more disturbing, because we’ve had nothing but good games against that club, and for them to pull that bull. . . that’s what it is.”

The Mariners would argue that hostilities began when Jered Weaver, who gave up four runs and nine hits in five innings to improve to 13-7, drilled Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima in the ribs with a fourth-inning fastball.

Campillo, who replaced starter Ryan Feierabend, knocked down catcher Jeff Mathis with a pitch near the catcher’s head to open the bottom of the fourth. Didn’t that even the score? Not in Campillo’s mind, apparently.

Campillo brushed back Guerrero later in the fourth and paid the price, as Guerrero slugged his 26th homer, walking a few steps out of the box in admiration of his shot, a response, Guerrero admitted, that “was related” to the previous pitch.

Then Campillo came up and in on Guerrero again in the sixth, raising the ire of Guerrero, who has been hit by pitches 27 times in four years but had never even stepped toward the mound, let alone charged it.

“The difference is, if I’m going to get hit, that’s fine, but please stay away from my head,” Guerrero said through an interpreter. “And when you do it twice, that’s enough. I also saw what they did to my catcher. That’s what really got me going. Hit me all you want. Just not near my head.”

Campillo left the clubhouse before speaking with reporters. Asked whether Campillo’s pitch to Guerrero slipped, McLaren said: “Guerrero’s hitting .600 against us. We threw the ball in the dirt and he hits the ball. Campillo throwing up and in and he overthrows? Whatever.”

This is nothing new for Guerrero, who so abused Texas last season, hitting .420 with seven homers and 16 runs batted in against them, that Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla resorted to intimidation tactics, drilling Guerrero with a pitch and sparking a benches-clearing brawl.

This season, the Mariners are Guerrero’s whipping boys. Guerrero is batting .516 (32 for 62) with six home runs and 19 RBIs against Seattle, and the Angels, who have the best record in the majors at 91-62 and can clinch their third division title in four years with a win tonight, blew past Seattle down the stretch, turning a two-game lead Aug. 26 to 9 1/2 games Thursday night.

And the Mariners provided even more motivation for the Angels to clinch on them.

“Vlad is our superstar, he’s going to carry us into the playoffs, and for them to go after him twice is completely unnecessary,” Weaver said. “I don’t know if they’re frustrated because their season is slipping away.”

Lackey wasn’t pleased, either, but when asked if Thursday’s proceedings might affect how he pitches to the Mariners on Sunday, he said, “No comment. No paper trail.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com