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Mariners-Angels Preview

Jul 17, 2010 - 6:41 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Seattle (35-55) at Los Angeles (49-44), 9:05 p.m. EDT

The Los Angeles Angels struggled down the stretch of the first half of the season. A matchup with the lowly Seattle Mariners has helped them get back on track.

Angels starter Joe Saunders looks to maintain his dominance over the Mariners on Saturday night when Los Angeles tries to win its eighth straight in this AL West rivalry.

Leading the division by one-half game on June 7, the Angels (49-44) lost eight of 10 and fell 4 1/2 games behind Texas at the All-Star break.

Los Angeles, though, has kept pace with the first-place Rangers by winning the first two of this four-game set against the division-worst Mariners (35-55). After tagging Seattle pitching for 16 hits in Thursday's 8-3 victory, the Angels had 10 hits in Friday's 3-2 win.

The Angels, who averaged 2.8 runs and batted .213 in the 10 games leading up to this series, will try to win three in a row for the first time since June 26-29.

Saunders (6-9, 4.76 ERA) is 1-0 with a 5.06 ERA in three starts against the Mariners this season and 8-1 with a 3.58 ERA in 13 career outings against them. Los Angeles has won Saunders' last 10 starts against Seattle.

Saunders, though, has struggled in his last five overall outings, going 1-3 with a 5.90 ERA. He allowed five runs and season high-tying 10 hits over 5 2-3 innings in a 5-2 loss at the Chicago White Sox on July 7.

"Joe did try to get a little too fine realizing we were only scoring two runs, it just went in a negative direction," manager Mike Scioscia said.

Seattle has been heading the wrong direction all month. Since ending June on a 9-3 tear, the Mariners have lost 11 of 13 to fall a season-worst 17 games out of first place.

An ineffective offense is the major reason for this slide. Seattle, which is averaging an AL-low 3.4 runs, is scoring just 2.6 per game this month while batting .216.

Rookie first baseman Justin Smoak, acquired last week in the deal that sent Cliff Lee to Texas, was 1 for 12 in his first three games with the Mariners before going 2 for 3 with a two-run homer Friday. He is batting .077 (2 for 26) against the Angels.

Ichiro Suzuki, who is batting .429 in 11 games versus Los Angeles this season, went 0 for 4 Friday to end his 14-game hitting streak. He is 12 for 36 lifetime against Saunders.

While the Mariners' offense continues to struggle, Seattle's pitching has been among the best in the AL with a 3.93 ERA. Ryan Rowland-Smith (1-9, 5.89), though, has had a rough season. The left-hander didn't get much support in his last start as two first-inning errors led to two runs in Sunday's 8-2 loss to the New York Yankees.

"I thought he was a victim more than anything," manager Don Wakamatsu said of Rowland-Smith, who threw three wild pitches and gave up six runs in four innings.

Rowland-Smith, 0-2 with a 2.84 ERA in four career starts against the Angels, is 0-5 with a 7.38 ERA in nine road starts this season.

Los Angeles has won 12 of 14 against Seattle.