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Batista pitches gem, Mariners blank Angels

Jul 31, 2007 - 5:58 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Miguel Batista helped the Seattle Mariners win their fourth consecutive game.

Batista pitched seven scoreless innings and Ichiro Suzuki had three hits to lift the Mariners to a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Monday in the opener of their crucial three-game series.

The 36-year-old Batista (11-7), who won his third straight decision, yielded just four hits with no walks and two strikeouts.

"It was a pretty good start," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "Great pitching, good defense, a couple of runs. (Batista) kept the hitters off balance and was throwing strikes. He has his own tempo and keeps the hitters offset a little bit. He's very good at it."

The Dominican righthander had to work his way out of his only jam after Jeff Mathis opened the third inning with an infield single and Reggie Willits singled him to second. But Batista struck out Chone Figgins and got Orlando Cabrera and Vladimir Guerrero to fly out to end the threat.

Batista retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced en route to matching his career high for wins in a season.

"I didn't walk anybody, and that was good," Batista said. "I thought I pitched better today than I did any other day. I wanted to make sure we started this series on the right foot, and I'm glad we did."

Brandon Morrow pitched around a walk in a scoreless eighth and J.J. Putz tossed a perfect ninth and recorded his 30th save of the season.

Ichiro helped supply all the offense the Mariners needed. He tripled off Angels starter Kelvim Escobar (11-5) in the third and scored on Jose Vidro's single to center to take a 1-0 lead.

"It's a great way to start. It's definitely a great way to start," Vidro said. "It gave us a lot of confidence. But now we have to go home and think about tomorrow."

The Japanese superstar gave Seattle a 2-0 advantage with an RBI single in the seventh inning.

The Mariners, who have tallied 27 runs over their current winning streak that followed a seven-game losing slide, climbed to within three games of the first-place Angels in the American League West race.

Escobar pitched eight solid innings but it was not enough. The 31-year-old Venezuelan gave up two runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts saw his record against the Mariners fall to 5-9.

"You couldn't pitch much better than Kelvim did," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Unfortunately, Batista matched him pitch for pitch, and a little bit better. Batista pitched great. Their bullpen has been there for them all year and they shut us down. You just have to turn the page and move on."