• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Angels' Haren Ks 14 in shutout of Mariners

May 25, 2012 - 5:43 AM Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Dan Haren tossed his first shutout of the season to help the LA Angels of Anaheim take down the Seattle Mariners, 3-0, in the opener of a four-game set Thursday.

Haren (2-5) gave up just four hits with no walks and a career-high 14 strikeouts. His 12th strikeout of the game was the 1,500th of his career.

"A guy goes out there and strikes out as many as he does and doesn't walk anybody, that should tell you all you need to know right there," said Mariners manager Eric Wedge. "Each one of our guys has got to look at their at bats. It wasn't the umpire. A lot of it had to do with Haren, but a lot of it had to with us, too."

Albert Pujols went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, the 450th of his career, while Kendrys Morales drove in the other run for the Angels, who have won three straight.

Jason Vargas (5-4) gave up three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts over seven innings of work for the Mariners, who had won five of six coming into the game. Ichiro Suzuki's double in the seventh was the lone extra-base hit of the game for Seattle.

Mike Trout singled to lead off the game and, two batter later, Pujols smacked a pitch over the left field wall for his fifth home run of the season.

The sixth saw Pujols begin the frame with a single, steal second and later come home on Morales' single to left for a 3-0 lead.

Haren, meanwhile, was nearly untouchable as he retired 15 straight batters after giving up a leadoff single to Dustin Ackley to begin the first. He snapped a four-start losing streak

"I think it was obvious tonight that my stuff was better and just feeling better in general," said Haren. "I'm happy to win a game. I forgot what it felt like, but also the team won a couple in a row. Hopefully, we get going."

Michael Saunders busted an infield single to start the sixth and later stole second with one out, but Ackley flied out and Alex Liddi struck out to end the frame.

Suzuki started the seventh with a double and moved to third on a Kyle Seager ground out, but Haren struck out Jesus Montero and Mike Carp to keep the Mariners scoreless.

Haren gave up a two-out single in the eighth before retiring the Mariners in order in the ninth for his sixth career shutout.

Game Notes

Pujols is the fourth-youngest player to reach 450 home runs behind Jimmie Foxx, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez...Haren is the 22nd active pitcher to reach 1,500 strikeouts and is the youngest on the list. It was the 16th complete game of his career...Ervin Santana pitches for the Angels on Friday while Blake Beavan takes the mound for Seattle.