Juan Rivera delivers a win for the Angels

It was an 85-mph slider, and Juan Rivera was able to track the path of the pitch just fine.

The left fielder who recently sat out six consecutive games because of blurry vision hammered the offering from Seattle reliever Brian Sweeney for a seventh-inning solo homer Saturday night at Angel Stadium, lifting the Angels to a 7-6 victory.

Rivera had three hits, finishing a triple short of the cycle, on a night that the Angels can only hope portends a better second half for a player who hit a disappointing .240 with 11 homers and 35 runs batted in before the All-Star break.

Mike Napoli also homered and Kevin Frandsen and Reggie Willits each drove in two runs to help the Angels amass 10 hits, their third consecutive game in double digits in that category.

The Angels have scored 18 runs to win three games in their first series after the All-Star break, already surpassing the 14 runs they tallied while losing six of seven games on a recent trip.

They also closed to within 3 1/2 games of Texas in the American League West and improved to 10-2 against Seattle this season while delivering the 950th victory of Mike Scioscia’s managerial career.

Rivera’s heroics helped the Angels overcome a shaky start by Saunders and a rare stumble by reliever Kevin Jepsen, who surrendered a solo homer to Josh Bard that tied the score in the seventh. Jepsen had not allowed a run in his previous seven outings against Seattle, holding the Mariners to a .216 batting average.

Angels setup man Fernando Rodney escaped a self-induced jam in the eighth, striking out Justin Smoak to end the inning after Jose Lopez had doubled with one out and advanced to third on Milton Bradley’s groundout.

Brian Fuentes walked Seattle’s Ryan Langerhans to lead off the ninth before Bard grounded into a double play and Jack Wilson struck out to give the Angels closer his 18th save and second in as many nights.

It seemed like just another Saunders-dominates-the-Mariners affair when the Angels staked their starter to an early 6-1 lead against a team that the left-hander has dominated throughout his career.

Coming into the game, Saunders had won his last seven decisions against Seattle and had gone 8-1 with a 2.93 earned-run average in his career against the division rival.

But the Mariners seemed to know every pitch before it was delivered during a three-run fourth inning they opened with four consecutive hits, including a run-scoring double by Lopez and an RBI single by Smoak. Bard added a run-scoring single past shortstop Erick Aybar before Saunders averted further damage by getting Wilson to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Smoak hit his second homer in as many games in the sixth, pulling the Mariners to within 6-5. Saunders departed after the inning, having given up 10 hits and five runs -- four earned -- in six innings.

The unearned run came as part of a two-out rally in the second inning that was made possible after an error by second baseman Howie Kendrick. Smoak doubled to left field and went to third on Langerhans’ single to left.

The Angels appeared to have Langerhans caught stealing when he ventured too far away from first base and Saunders threw the ball to first baseman Kevin Frandsen. But Kendrick dropped Frandsen’s throw as Langerhans approached second base, allowing Smoak to score.

ben.bolch@latimes.com