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Guerrero homers to help Colon remain unbeaten

May 18, 2007 - 6:42 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Vladimir Guerrero greeted his former teammate rudely and helped his current one continue his dominance in Seattle.

Guerrero hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat off Jarrod Washburn and drove in three runs to help Bartolo Colon remain unbeaten as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim posted a 7-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners in Thursday's rubber game of a three-game series.

Rookie Reggie Willits went 3-for-3 to help the Angels to their 12th win in their last 14 games.

Guerrero, who along with Washburn helped Anaheim to a World Series title in 2002, hit the second pitch from the lefthander into the left field seats for two-run homer - his 10th of the season - for a 2-0 lead. Guerrero added an RBI double as part of a three-run third inning that put the Angels up 5-1.

The homer was just his first in the last 12 games, but Washburn knows Guerrero is always dangerous.

"He's one of the best I've ever seen, one of the best I've ever pitched against and one of the best I've ever played with," Washburn said.

Guerrero helped Colon (5-0), who allowed three runs and nine hits in seven innings, improve to 8-1 in nine career outings at Safeco Field - the most wins by any visiting pitcher.

Guerrero has a knack for giving Colon run support. Five of Guerrero's homers have come when Colon was on the mound, including four in the first inning.

"Every time I pitch I remind him he has to hit a home run for me," Colon joked through an interpreter.

Colon has won five of his first six starts since returning from the disabled list after having surgery on a torn rotator cuff in the offseason.

"I'm not surprised," Colon said of his hot start. "I spent a lot of time working and had a lot of help from people around me."

Scot Shields and Darren Oliver combined for a scoreless frame, and Francisco Rodriguez got Richie Sexson to line into a double play to second baseman Eric Aybar with runners on first and second to end the contest.

Yuniesky Betancourt brought Seattle to within 2-1 with an RBI single in the second, but Guerrero hit a double past Ben Broussard to score Aybar to make the score 3-1 in the third.

Shea Hillenbrand laced a two-out with a single to left that made it 5-1, after Wasburn intentionally walked Gary Matthews Jr., and got Robb Quinlan to pop out.

The Angels got to Washburn once again in the fourth and stretched the lead to 6-1. Jose Molina doubled to lead off the frame and scored on a single by Orlando Cabrera, who extended his hitting streak to eight games.

Washburn (3-4), who had won two of his last three starts and was coming off eight scoreless innings against the Yankees, suffered his worst outing of the season. The 32-year-old allowed six runs and nine hits in six innings. He had yielded just four earned runs in his last five starts.

"I hit my spots pretty good all night," Washburn said. "I threw inside but they just did a pretty good job of getting their bats broke and putting it in a spot where they get to go on base."

Ichiro Suzuki had two more hits for nine in the three-game series, but had his streak of 45 consecutive bases stolen halted in the first when he was thrown out by Jose Molina trying to steal second. Ichiro, who owns the American League record, fell five shy of Vince Coleman's record of 50 straight steals in 1989.

Betancourt went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Adrian Beltre had two doubles for the Mariners, who have lost two straight after posting an 11-3 win in the series opener on Tuesday.