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Weaver pitches 7 strong innings in Angels' 7-5 win

Apr 17, 2010 - 3:32 AM TORONTO(AP) -- Just as he's done several times before against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jered Weaver followed the script perfectly Friday night.

Weaver continued his mastery over Toronto with seven strong innings and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Blue Jays 7-5.

"The story tonight is really the way Jered kept putting up zeros, giving our offense a chance to trickle into a lead and then break it open a little later," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "That's what this club is capable of doing with any one of our starters."

Vernon Wells, Randy Ruiz and Adam Lind homered for Toronto, but it wasn't enough as Weaver improved to 6-1 with a 2.93 ERA in seven career starts against the Blue Jays. Weaver (2-0) allowed two runs and five hits in seven-plus innings. He walked none and struck out eight.

"There's a lot of righties in that lineup and I fare pretty good against righties," Weaver said. "The slider was good and I was able to paint that fastball away to righties, too. I was able to mix in the changeup a little bit. The change wasn't as good as I like it to be, it was up a little bit, but I got away with some."

Weaver's lone loss to Toronto was a 10-4 defeat at Los Angeles on May 30, 2008, when he allowed six runs and 10 hits in four innings.

Fernando Rodney pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.

Weaver's strong outing spoiled Shaun Marcum's first home start for Toronto since Sept. 16, 2008, when he left two innings into a game against Baltimore with tightness in his forearm. Marcum missed the rest that season and all of 2009 after ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow.

"It was nice to be back out there on your home field, but other than that, you've still got to go out and play the game," Marcum said.

Marcum (0-1) allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out six.

"He's still one of the best pitchers in the league that don't have a win," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. "He never quits out there."

Wells came in 1 for 15 in his career against Weaver, but drilled the first pitch of the second inning over the wall in left for his sixth homer.

The Angels tied it with a run in the third. Mathis walked, stole second and took third when catcher John Buck's throw ticked off the glove of shortstop Alex Gonzalez. Erick Aybar followed with an RBI single.

Kendry Morales hit a solo homer off Marcum in the fourth and the Angels added two more in the fifth. Mathis doubled and scored on Bobby Abreu's single and Torii Hunter hit an RBI double.

"Marcum is a guy who never throws the ball straight," Scioscia said. "He's got good action, he changes speeds, you have to be patient. I thought we got into some good counts and some guys, with two-strike hitting, did some good things."

Wells and Lind opened the seventh with back-to-back singles, but Mathis threw Lind out at third on a pitch that bounced in front of the plate. Weaver retired the next two to escape unscathed.

"Obviously, that was a big play," Weaver said of Mathis. "He's pretty athletic back there and he showed it there. That guy is a rock back there and it's fun throwing to him."

Los Angeles scored three more in the eighth off reliever Jeremy Accardo. Juan Rivera singled home a run and Maicer Izturis hit a two-run double that sailed over the head of right fielder Travis Snider, who froze before breaking back to the wall.

"The ball was hit right at him, which is one of the toughest balls to catch," Gaston said. "If you raise up or if you turn the wrong way, you're not going to catch it. I won't say he should have caught it. I wish he had caught it, but I've played out there."

After Ruiz chased Weaver with a leadoff homer in the bottom half, reliever Jason Bulger let Toronto back in it. Snider walked, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Gonzalez. Lind followed with a two-run drive to right, his second.

Kevin Jepsen came on and surrendered a single to Wells, but struck out Lyle Overbay to end the threat.

NOTES: The attendance was 14,779. ... Overbay went 0-4, dropping his average to .070. ... Mathis extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games. ... The Angels won for the first time this season when allowing the opposition to score first. ... Wells didn't hit his sixth homer last year until June 20 at Washington. He finished with 15. ... Toronto Raptors guard Jose Calderon was at the game.