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Guerrero, Matthews Jr. power Angels past Mariners

May 31, 2007 - 6:54 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim appear to heed the conventional wisdom that it is important to put the opponent on its heels early.

Gary Matthews Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero each hit three-run homers as the Angels won the rubber match of the three-game set against the Seattle Mariners, 8-6, on Wednesday.

Anaheim has taken advantage of teams all season with quick starts, outscoring their opposition in the first, 59-22, on their way to posting a 23-4 record when they score in the opening frame.

With the Angels trailing, 1-0, going into the bottom of the first, Matthews followed consecutive singles from Orlando Cabrera and Guerrero with a three-run blast off Mariners starter Felix Hernandez (3-3) to give Anaheim an early 3-1 advantage.

"We got some good hitting counts and drove the ball well," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Gary had a great at-bat and got us early on the board."

After Seattle had recaptured the lead at 5-4 in the fifth, Guerrero launched a three-run shot to right-center off Hernandez - the third homer allowed by the righthander in the contest - to push the Angels ahead, 7-5.

"The only thing I've been able to do lately with two strikes is remind myself to protect the zone a little bit more," Guerrero said through a translator. "With that particular pitch, I was able to square up and put a good swing on it."

Casey Kotchman also homered and Cabrera had three hits for the Angels, who have won 11 of their last 14 games.

"We're getting into a comfort level on the offensive side," Scioscia said. "It's good to see us drive the ball and become pretty consistent about scoring runs."

Dustin Moseley (4-0) yielded a run over 2 1/3 innings to get the win in relief of starter Jered Weaver, who was pulled after allowing five runs in 4 2/3 innings.

"I think the command just really wasn't there," Weaver said. "I was struggling with my fastball command, but the off-speed stuff felt great. Obviously, I didn't get as deep as I wanted to, but we got the win and that's all that matters."

Scot Shields followed Moseley with a perfect eighth before giving way to closer Francisco Rodriguez, who worked around a walk and struck out the side for his 18th save in 19 chances.

The Angels' bullpen came through once again, ensuring Anaheim's 105th consecutive victory in a contest they led after eight innings, the longest such active streak in the majors.

"It's good, obviously, for us to score runs because there's going to be times where we're not doing well and (the bullpen) picks us up," Guerrero said. "We'll continue to give them a lot of support because we have a really good pitching staff and we look for all of us to contribute."

Hernandez, who was frustrated for being pulled from his last start against Kansas City, felt the brunt of the Angels' offensive attack as he surrendered seven runs and nine hits with a walk and five strikeouts over six frames.

"Today, for some reason, he was up in the strike zone and we didn't foul off very many pitches," Guerrero said of Hernandez. "Give credit to our hitters because they didn't miss pitches that they shouldn't have missed. They did a nice job."

Kenji Johjima and Adrian Beltre each posted two hits for the Mariners, who have dropped two straight contests following a four-game winning streak.

"Those guys have six or seven guys who are really swinging well," Scioscia said. "Tonight Jered didn't do quite as well, but our bullpen really came in and did well."