Bell gets best of Mariners
GLENDALE — The following are updates on area Major League Baseball players.
Trevor Bell (Crescenta Valley High, 2005) pitcher, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Bell might have turned in his best performance of the season as a starter Wednesday. If not on Wednesday, it came in his previous outing.
With the Angels (65-69) mired in third place in the American League’s West Division, Bell, a former All-Area Baseball Player of the Year, pitched six quality innings in his sixth start of the season to help the Angels pick up a 4-2 road win against the Seattle Mariners. The right-hander struck out six and allowed nine hits in six innings. He allowed a pair of earned runs, but lowered his earned-run average from 5.07 to 4.85.
Bell threw 61 of his 93 pitches for strikes to pick up his first victory since May 10. In that decision, Bell got one out in relief to beat the Tampa Bay Rays.
On Wednesday, Bell (2-4) got out of a major jam. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth, Bell induced Franklin Gutierrez into a double play that gave Seattle a 2-1 lead. Bell avoided further damage by striking out Russell Branyan swinging.
Hideki Matsui hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to give the Angels a 3-2 lead and put Bell in line for the victory.
Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said Bell showed resolve while getting out of several jams in the early innings.
“They definitely had some opportunities and he made some pitches to get out,” Scioscia told the Associated Press. “He showed us a lot out there. He bent a little bit but didn’t break.”
It marked the second strong starting effort by Bell. He gave up two runs in seven innings in a 3-1 loss to the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 27. Bell struck out three and walked one in an 89-pitch effort.
Bell has made 24 appearances, recording 41 strikeouts. He’s allowed 73 hits and 33 runs (30 earned) in 55 2/3 innings for the Angels, who will next face the host Oakland Athletics in a three-game series beginning today.
Freddy Sanchez (Glendale Community College, 1998) second baseman, San Francisco Giants: Sanchez and the Giants are in Los Angeles today through Sunday for a three-game series against the Dodgers. Sanchez returns to the Southland on a roll.
The three-time All-Star and former National League batting champion has hit safely in nine consecutive games to raise his average 31 points to .292 since Aug. 22. He was batting .261 on Aug. 22. Sanchez, who won a batting crown in 2006 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, has registered at least two hits in six of those games.
Sanchez, who was acquired last season by San Francisco from Pittsburgh, had two hits in the Giants’ 2-1 home win against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. He also had two hits and scored twice in San Francisco’s 5-2 win against Colorado on Tuesday.
Sanchez also collected three hits and drove in two runs in San Francisco’s 9-7 home win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.
Entering today’s action, Sanchez, who began the season on the disabled list, is batting .292 (100 for 343) with three home runs and 35 runs batted in. In 89 games, Sanchez has recorded 16 doubles and scored 44 runs.
The Giants are 74-60 and in second place in the West Division.
Doug Slaten (Glendale Community College, 1999) relief pitcher, Washington Nationals: Slaten, a left-hander, has made only one appearance since improving to 4-1 on Aug. 26. Slaten, who was picked up on waivers by the Nationals from the Arizona Diamondbacks last offseason, got two outs in Washington’s 16-10 loss to the host Florida Marlins on Wednesday.
The normally consistent Slaten struggled during his brief stint. He allowed a lead-off home run to Cameron Maybin in the seventh inning before getting two outs and hitting a batter.
Slaten has struck out 32 and walked 16 in 35 2/3 innings. He’s allowed 30 hits and 16 runs (12 earned) in 41 appearances for Washington (55-77). The Nationals, who are in last place in the National League’s East Division, start a three-game road series today against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
