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Betancourt's single lifts Mariners over Angels

Aug 2, 2007 - 7:17 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Yuniesky Betancourt clubbed a one-out single past a drawn-in infield in the 12th inning to lift the Seattle Mariners to an 8-7 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Wednesday.

Four relievers combined to throw three scoreless innings after All-Star closer J.J. Putz failed to close the door for the Mariners, who took two of three from American League West-leading Anaheim to pull within three games of first in the division.

"We did what we set out to do, and that was to win the series," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "It was an extremely big win."

Seattle loaded the bases in the 12th on a pair of infield singles and a hit batsman. Angels manager Mike Scioscia brought center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. in as a fifth infielder, but Betancourt managed to find a hole between third base and shortstop to plate Adrian Beltre with the winning run.

Justin Speier (0-2) suffered the loss for Anaheim, while Mariners lefthander Eric O'Flaherty (7-0) was credited with the win.

Putz, who blew his first save of the season on July 25, could not hold a three-run advantage in the ninth. Orlando Cabrera led off the inning with a single and took second on fielder's indifference before scoring on Vladimir Guerrero's single to cut the deficit to 7-5.

Putz induced Garret Anderson to ground into a double play, but Casey Kotchman followed with a single. Matthews, who entered the at-bat with a 7-for-11 lifetime mark and a pair of homers against Putz, lifted a 1-1 offering over the wall in left field for an opposite-field homer, tying the game at 7-7 and forcing extra innings.

"It was a big momentum swing and I figured we would go out and take it from there," Matthews said. "Our bullpen did everything it could to give us an opportunity, but you can't give them that many chances and expect to win a ballgame."

Putz's rare ninth-inning collapse spoiled a strong performance from young ace Felix Hernandez, who overcame a scary collision with first baseman Ben Broussard to toss eight strong frames.

"The biggest thing I was concerned about was that Felix deserved a better outcome than a no-decision," Putz said. "Those guys worked their behinds off to get me a third run, and to blow a three-run lead, that hurts. When we come out and win one in extra innings, that's huge."

Hernandez and Broussard collided while trying to field a high infield chopper off the bat of Guerrero in the fourth inning, leaving the 21-year-old righthander motionless on the ground for several minutes as the trainer and teammates surrounded him. But he eventually got to his feet and returned to the mound.

Hernandez allowed just six hits, struck out seven and did not walk a batter.

"Felix was just a lion out there," McLaren said. "He was a real warrior. He took a pretty good hit, but he wanted it bad. He was throwing as hard the last inning as he has all season."

After giving up a two-run homer to Anderson with none out in the seventh which cut the Mariners' lead to 5-4, Hernandez struck out the next two batters and got Maicer Izturis to fly out to end the inning.

"It was unbelievable," Hernandez said of his collision. "It was still hurting when I followed through. I don't know what made me get up. But I had to do what I had to do. I wanted to win this game."

The Mariners, who had scored only two runs in the first two games of the series, got out to a quick 5-0 lead after three innings against Angels starter Jered Weaver.

The 24-year-old righthander departed in the seventh after giving up back-to-back infield hits to lead off the frame and Jose Guillen's single to center to score a run for a 6-4 advantage. Weaver was tagged for six runs and 12 hits while walking one and striking out one.

Kenji Johjima's double plated two runs in the second inning. The Japanese catcher then scored on Betancourt's double for a 3-0 lead.

The Mariners added two more in the third when Raul Ibanez doubled home Guillen and scored on Broussard's single.

Guerrero's infield double in the fourth inning scored one run and a groundout by Anderson added another to trim the deficit to 5-2.

The Angels were denied a third run when Ichiro Suzuki caught Kotchman's fly ball in center and fired a perfect strike to catcher Johjima to cut down Guerrero at the plate.