Mariners let one slip away
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Maicer Izturis hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning, rewarding Jerome Williams for pitching eight innings of one-hit ball in the Los Angeles Angels' 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.
Peter Bourjos added a run-scoring single in the eighth as Los Angeles trimmed the Texas Rangers' AL West lead to 2? games with a dramatic rally for its 10th win in 12 home games.
Williams (3-0) narrowly outdueled Seattle rookie left-hander Charlie Furbush (3-8), who held the Angels scoreless until the eighth.
Trayvon Robinson's sixth-inning leadoff homer was the Mariners' only hit off Williams, a journeyman right-hander who has made three strong starts for Los Angeles down the playoff stretch.
All-Star closer Jordan Walden pitched a hitless ninth for his 29th save as the Angels again gained ground on the defending AL champion Rangers, who lost 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Rays earlier Wednesday.
Williams struck out five and walked one in the latest step of his improbable comeback. He hadn't won in the majors since Sept. 25, 2005, before beating Baltimore on Aug. 21, and he has filled a gaping hole in the Angels' top-heavy roster since Joel Pineiro and Tyler Chatwood both struggled in recent weeks.
Williams retired 15 of the Mariners' first 16 hitters, yielding only Mike Carp's leadoff walk in the second inning until Robinson connected. The Los Angeles native's drive to right field was caught on the fly by a fan in the front row of the short porch in right field.
Both starters worked quickly and smoothly in the series finale on another uncomfortably warm night in Orange County until the big finish.
Furbush yielded five hits and one walk, throwing 100 pitches in the longest start of his career. The rookie has lost four straight starts with the club that acquired him from Detroit in late July, but he thoroughly dominated the Angels until his final inning.
The Angels finally rallied when Erick Aybar reached on a one-out infield single in the eighth, advancing to second on a wild pitch. After pinch-hitter Alberto Callaspo walked, Izturis put a drive into the left-center gap, easily scoring Aybar and pinch-runner Jeremy Moore.
Bourjos then connected against reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, scoring Aybar. The speedy Bourjos motored to third base when Wilhelmsen's pickoff throw went past Justin Smoak, but Ichiro Suzuki bounced off the wall to make a leaping catch on Torii Hunter's inning-ending drive to right.
One night after Felix Hernandez limited the Angels' surging offense to four hits and one unearned run in the Mariners' skid-snapping win, Furbush got agonizingly close to an impressive win. Despite his pedestrian record, Furbush has showed signs of dominance this season, notably pitching seven innings of one-run ball against the mighty Boston Red Sox last month.
The Mariners backed him with exceptional infield defense, including third baseman Alex Liddi's difficult stop and throw to nip Hunter in the seventh.