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Mariners' Hernandez set to face Angels and Haren

Aug 31, 2011 - 2:58 PM (Sports Network) - An intriguing pitching matchup is on tap tonight in the Emerald City, as Mariners ace Felix Hernandez takes on Angels hurler Dan Haren in the third test of a four-game series from Safeco Field.

Hernandez, the reigning AL Cy Young Award recipient, has won four of his past six starts and threw six innings of two-run ball in last Wednesday's 9-2 pounding at Cleveland. He struck out 10 Indians and issued two walks to improve to 12-11 in 28 starts to go along with a 3.37 ERA.

The right-hander lost to the Angels on Aug. 7, when he allowed just two runs in eight innings of his team's 2-1 defeat. In 23 career starts against Anaheim, Hernandez is 4-9 with a 4.01 ERA. He is 6-4 in 12 home starts.

Haren was 3-0 in his previous seven outings until an ugly showing at Texas on Friday. In an 11-7 loss to the Rangers, Haren gave up seven runs -- six earned -- and 11 hits over 4 1/3 innings to drop to 13-7 in 29 games (28 starts) to go along with a 3.19 ERA.

Considered to be the Angels' co-ace with Jered Weaver, Haren topped Seattle on July 10 with 8 2/3 innings of two-run ball in a 4-2 triumph. The righty is an impressive 9-4 with a 2.52 ERA in 17 career starts against the AL West-rival Mariners. Haren owns a 6-4 mark in 16 road assignments this season.

The Angels posted a 13-6 win in Tuesday's second test of this series, as Mike Trout clubbed a pair of homers and finished with five runs batted in and three runs scored. Erick Aybar knocked in a pair of runs for Anaheim, which rebounded from Monday's loss to win for the eighth time in 11 tries.

Aybar is riding a 10-game hitting streak in which he's batting .316, while Trout has four homers and nine runs scored in seven games since being recalled.

Jerome Williams lasted seven innings for the Halos, allowing four runs on seven hits while fanning six to earn just his second win since 2005.

"I had an opportunity to come back and I'm going to take advantage of it," said Williams. "My confidence is through the roof."

Anaheim is 3 1/2 games behind Texas for the AL West lead and 2-3 on a seven- game road trip.

Ichiro Suzuki had a two-run single in the seventh inning for the Mariners to extend his hitting streak to a season-high 13 games. Miguel Olivo had three hits and two RBI for Seattle, which fell to 1-4 on a seven-game homestand.

Ichiro needs 46 more hits to reach the 200-hit milestone for an 11th consecutive season.

Anthony Vasquez drew the start for the Mariners and suffered the loss, allowing eight runs, seven of which were earned, and seven hits in four innings. Vazquez also walked three batters and struck out one.

The Angels have won nine of 14 meetings with Seattle this season and are 24-9 in this series since the start of the 2010 campaign.