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Santana pitches Angels over streaking Mariners

May 30, 2007 - 6:14 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Ervin Santana cooled off the Seattle Mariners on his favorite mound.

Santana threw seven strong innings and Shea Hillenbrand broke a tie with a two-run home run as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim notched a 4-1 victory over the Mariners on Tuesday.

Santana (4-6), who improved to 23-6 for his career at home compared to 9-16 on the road, quieted a Seattle offense which had been averaging 10 runs per game in its last five contests.

"I just keep making adjustments and hopefully I can start putting some good outings together on the road," Santana said.

The righthander had a rough first inning, walking two and throwing nine straight balls at one point but got out of a bases-loaded jam when Kenji Johjima hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

"I pitched a good game today," Santana said. "I got into trouble in the first inning but made a big pitch to get me out of it. After that I thought I was locating my pitches for strikes and making quality pitches."

After the shaky start, the 25-year-old Santana allowed just three hits to rebound from his worst start of the season. The righthander allowed eight runs in 3 2/3 innings in a 12-0 loss at Detroit on Thursday.

In this one he allowed one run and four hits in seven innings to beat the Mariners for the second time this season. On April 22, Santana held Seattle to one run and six hits in seven innings in a 6-1 win.

"I felt like Ervin had some good stuff tonight," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He ran into some trouble in the first inning but made a good pitch to get a double play and get out of the inning. We just want Ervin to go out on the road and throw the same quality game he gave us tonight."

Adrian Beltre, who hit two homers yesterday, was one of the big bats silenced by Santana, as he went 0-for-3.

"He was just around the zone all night and kept mixing up his pitches which made it hard for us to get an idea of what he was going to throw," Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre said.

Scot Shields pitched a hitless eighth and Francisco Rodriguez worked a scoreless ninth for his 17th save in 18 tries, as Los Angeles won for the four time in its last five games.

"The key to our success is when we can get our bullpen in the end of games," Santana said.

Santana got all the run support he needed from Hillenbrand, who belted a 2-2 offering from Ryan Feierabend (0-1) into the left field seats for a two-run homer and a 3-1 lead.

"I got a pitch that I wasn't looking for with two strikes but it was in the zone and I got good wood on it," Hillenbrand said. "I've been struggling for most of the season and I just hope this can get me going in the direction I want to go to help this team win games."

Feierabend, who was making a start for the injured Horacio Ramirez, allowed four runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings in his third career start.

"I was a little nervous at first, but I got into a good groove and pitched my game," Feierabend said. "I missed location with the pitch to Hillenbrand out over the plate and he hit it. I just wanted to come here and try to keep our team in the game and give us a chance to pull out a win."

Ichiro extended his hitting streak to a season-high 22 games with a single in the first for the Mariners, who fell to 4 1/2 games behind the Angels in the American League West.

Jose Guillen drove in the lone run for Seattle, which has lost 14 of the last 18 meetings between the teams.