Jered Weaver gives Angels the ace-high hand in 3-2 win over Seattle
Have the Angels started to hit their second-half stride, or merely caught a breather against one of the most disappointing teams in baseball?
It remained difficult to tell after the Angels toppled Seattle for a second consecutive game, downing the Mariners, 3-2, Friday night at Angel Stadium.
Jered Weaver continued his season-long mastery of counterpart ace Felix Hernandez, pitching seven solid innings to improve to 2-0 with an 0.84 earned-run average in three starts against Seattle — all opposing Hernandez.
“You can’t help but wonder what’s going on,” Weaver joked of the way the schedule has aligned so that he has repeatedly faced the Mariners’ top-of-the-rotation right-hander.
The Angels didn’t exactly hammer Hernandez, getting three runs in eight innings against the right-hander, but they continued what for them amounted to a barrage considering the way they hit on a recent trip in which they lost six of seven games.
Howie Kendrick went three for four with a pair of doubles and Kevin Frandsen and Bobby Abreu each had run-scoring singles as part of a 10-hit attack for the Angels, who reached double digits in that category for the second consecutive game.
The Angels remained 4½ games behind Texas in the American League West, but they are entering the part of the season when they have been at their best in recent years. Since 2007, the Angels’ .612 winning percentage after the All-Star break trails only the New York Yankees’ .658 success rate.
“It’s great to win tonight,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said when asked about the possibility of a carryover effect from back-to-back victories, “but nothing that happened tonight is going to affect tomorrow. If we carry anything forward from these two games, it’s going to be confidence.”
Seattle was brimming with self-assurance this spring with the additions of Cliff Lee, Chone Figgins and Milton Bradley. That was before Bradley spent time on the restricted list because of anger and anxiety issues, Figgins’ production went mostly missing in action and Lee was traded to Texas.
Justin Smoak, one of the players the last-place Mariners acquired in the Lee deal, helped his new team wipe out most of a 3-0 deficit in the seventh inning when he crushed a two-run homer to right-center field off Weaver.
Catcher Jeff Mathis had called for a fastball inside, only to be shaken off by Weaver for the first time in the game. Weaver delivered a low changeup that ended up in the outfield stands.
“[Smoak] swung through the first changeup and I didn’t think he’d look for another one,” Weaver said, “but he did. . . . Luckily there weren’t two men on base so we were able to sneak one out.”
Weaver (9-5) didn’t start the eighth, giving way to reliever Fernando Rodney. The setup man pitched a scoreless inning and closer Brian Fuentes followed with a 1-2-3 ninth for his 17th save.
Weaver finished with five strikeouts, increasing his major league-leading total to 142.
The two earned runs Weaver allowed were the first he had given up in 211/3 innings this season against the Mariners.
Clicking on Green Links will take you to a third-party e-commerce site. These sites are not operated by the Los Angeles Times. The Times Editorial staff is not involved in any way with Green Links or with these third-party sites.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
