(Sports Network) - It's too bad the LA Angels of Anaheim couldn't play the
Boston Red Sox all the time.
Coming off their second sweep of the Red Sox in less than 10 days, the Angels
will begin a six-game road trip Friday with the first of three straight
matchups with the Seattle Mariners from Safeco Field.
The Angels broke out the brooms on Boston with Thursday's 5-2 triumph thanks
to Zack Greinke's seven strong innings and some help from the bullpen. Greinke
allowed two runs and five hits, struck out seven and walked two, while Kevin
Jepsen and Ernesto Frieri each tossed a scoreless inning of relief. Frieri
posted his 16th save in the process.
"I had better location tonight," Greinke said. "They popped up my fastball a
lot, but they were in the park and the outfielders were able to run them
down."
Albert Pujols had two hits and two RBI, Torii Hunter went 3-for-4 with a pair
of runs scored and Mark Trumbo got into the mix with two hits and an RBI for
the Angels, who are 3 1/2 games behind for one of the two final Wild Card
berths and 8 1/2 games in back of Texas for the AL West lead.
Los Angeles has won seven of nine games and is scheduled to visit Oakland for
three games after this set. The club hopes second baseman Howie Kendrick will
be ready for tonight after he left Thursday's game at Angel Stadium with a
right knee ailment.
"It's just a pain on the inside of my knee," Kendrick said on the Angels'
website. "I was running off the field, it gave out, and that's about all I
could tell you. It just didn't feel good."
The Angels have lost each of Dan Haren's last four starts, but have faith in
sending him to the mound tonight. Haren is 0-2 with a 6.27 earned run average
in that time and pitched well in a no-decision at Detroit last Saturday, when
he was reached for two runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Haren, who is 8-10 with 4.82 ERA in 23 starts, had won four of five trips to
the hill before his recent winless streak. He is 4-7 with a 4.94 ERA in 13
home starts this season and lost to the Mariners on Aug. 11 in a 7-4 setback.
He lasted only 3 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs -- five earned. He is 1-1
in two starts against Seattle and 11-6 with a 2.69 ERA in 21 career starts.
Seattle is back home following a seven-game (3-4) road trip against the White
Sox and Twins. The Mariners won three of four in Minnesota thanks to solid
pitching and Blake Beavan joined Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma as
winning hurlers during the set.
Beavan surrendered two runs in the first inning and scattered five hits
through seven frames, before three relievers closed the door. Charlie Furbush,
Stephen Pryor and Tom Wilhelmsen combined to allowed two runs over the final
two innings, with Wilhelmsen notching his 21st save.
"Beavan really struggled in that first inning but he really righted himself,"
Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. "He mixed his pitches better, developed some
confidence in his secondary pitches and got us really deep in the ball game."
The Mariners are scheduled to host Boston and Oakland on their nine-game
residency and hope to have outfielder Michael Saunders in the lineup tonight.
Saunders has missed six games since straining his right groin last Friday
against the White Sox and is batting .246 with 14 homers and 43 RBI.
Kevin Millwood hasn't done much lately to help the Mariners. He is 1-7 with a
4.63 earned run average in his last 16 starts, with Seattle going 5-11 in that
time. Millwood will try to get back on track tonight and was last in action
Sunday in a 4-3 loss against the White Sox in which he gave up a go-ahead home
run before rain postponed the game.
Millwood is only 4-11 in 25 starts this season to go along with a 4.28 ERA and
hasn't faced the Angels in 2012. The veteran right-hander has faced the Angels
17 times in his career and sports a winning record at 6-5 with a 3.98 ERA.
Seattle has won three of the last four meetings with the Angels, who are 6-4
in the season series and swept a four-game set at Safeco Field from May 24-27.
Anaheim has won five in a row at Seattle.
The Sports Network