Angels hand Mariners 100th loss of season
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 11:29 PM PDT
By The Associated Press
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E-mail this articleSEATTLE — Mark Teixeira’s home run with two outs in the eighth inning Los Angeles’ comeback 6-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night as the Angels moved closer to securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Angels, who trailed 5-2 after five innings, scored three runs in the sixth to tie it. In the eighth, Teixeira, who had four hits, ripped a 2-0 pitch from Mark Lowe (1-5) deep into the seats in right. It was his 13th home run with the Angels and 33rd on the season.
Mike Napoli of the Angels had three hits for the second straight game.
Darren Oliver (7-1) worked two hitless innings for the victory.
Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth and extended his major league saves record to 62 in a record 69 opportunities. It was his ninth save against the Mariners this season.
The fifth use of baseball’s replay policy came in the fifth inning when Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels hit a ball just outside the foul pole in left and third-base umpire Chuck Meriwether immediately called it foul. Angels manager Mike Scioscia came out twice and finally convinced crew chief Tim Welke to review the tape. He took 2½ minutes to confirm it was foul.
Yuniesky Betancourt had three hits for the Mariners (58-100), who lost 100 games for the fourth time in franchise history, but the first time in 25 years. The Mariners have the unfortunate distinction of being the first major league team with a $100 million payroll team to lose 100 games.
Los Angeles (98-60) maintained its edge over Tampa Bay (96-62), which beat Baltimore 11-6 on Wednesday, for home field. The Angels’ magic number to clinch is three with four games remaining.
The Angels, who have never finished with the best record in baseball, are one short of the franchise record for wins set by the 2002 team that won the World Series. They extended their franchise road win record to 49.
The Mariners scored three runs in the fifth to lead 5-2 as Jeremy Reed and Bryan LaHair had RBI hits.
Mariners starter Felix Hernandez, who had the second lowest run support average in the league (3.74), blew the three-run lead as the Angels got three in the sixth. Two scored on Sean Rodriguez’s double.
Hernandez (9-11) went six innings, allowing a season-high 13 hits and five runs. He won’t pitch again so it guarantees the Mariners will not have a 10-game winner for the third time in franchise history.
Scot Shields found himself in a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth but struck out Ichiro Suzuki and induced Betancourt to ground out.
Notes: Angels LHP Joe Saunders returned to the club after passing an uncooperative kidney stone. He missed one start but Scioscia said, “he’ll throw some bullpen (Thursday), probably a couple times on the mound to get a feel, then we’ll get him in the game Sunday.” ... Angels 2B Howie Kendrick, who returned from the DL Sunday (strained left hamstring), sat out to rest the leg. He’s expected back in the lineup Thursday. “We want to get him as many at-bats as we can,” Scioscia added. ... Suzuki went 0-for-5 and had his hitting streak snapped at 16 games. ... The Mariners likely will start reliever Cesar Jimenez in the series finale Thursday.
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