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Mariners stay alive, beat Angels

Sep 23, 2007 - 12:26 AM By Chris Padula PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Seattle Mariners forced the Los Angeles Angels to leave the champagne on ice for one more day, staving off elimination with a 3-2 victory Saturday.

Miguel Batista allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings and the Mariners offense turned in some timely hitting to keep the Angels from clinching their third American League West Division crown in the last four seasons.

Batista (15-11) kept the Angels potent offense quiet, working around six hits and five walks while allowing just one extra-base hit and striking out four to pick up his second straight win and improve his mark against the division rival to 3-2 on the season.

"I just wanted to go out and pitch a good game and keep them from clinching the division in front of us," Batista said. "We managed to get a big win and keep our season going."

Six relievers combined to hold Anaheim to one run over the final 3 2/3 innings, with closer J.J. Putz getting the final out in the eighth before yielding a run in the ninth to earn his 39th save.

"Relievers came in a did a great job picking us up out there today and keeping them from scoring," Mariners manager John McLaren said.

Seattle's pitching obscured a gutsy performance from Angels' spot starter Bartolo Colon, who filled in admirably for scheduled starter Kelvim Escobar - scratched with inflammation in his right elbow.

"I just wanted to go out and pitch a good game and give back to the fans," Colon said through an interpreter. "We just ran out of innings to catch them, but they did a good job shutting us down."

Colon (6-8) pitched eight solid innings, yielding eight hits and three runs while striking out three and not issuing a walk. The 2005 Cy Young Award winner, who is a free agent after the season and is likely to be left off the playoff roster, threw 67 of his 90 pitches for strikes in possibly his last appearance in front of the home fans.

"Bart looked good today," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Colon. "He worked fast and got ahead of hitters, but the Mariners got to him early and we just couldn't rebound."

The hefty veteran, who has made just 18 starts in an injury-filled campaign, has not won a game since defeating the Cincinnati Reds back on June 14, and now has dropped his last six decisions.

The Mariners got to Colon in the fourth inning when Ichiro Suzuki doubled to lead off the frame and came around when Adrian Beltre followed with an RBI single.

"Good to get some runs early off Bartolo cause when he settles in he is tough to beat," Mariners third baseman Willie Bloomquist said. "We are playing for pride and don't want them to celebrate in front of us."

Ben Broussard capped the inning with a double to right, plating Beltre to give Seattle a 2-0 lead.

The Mariners managed to tack on another run in the fifth inning on a RBI single by Ichiro, extending their lead to 3-0.

The Angels got on the board in the sixth, pushing across one run on an infield single by Maicer Izturis to cut the deficit to 3-1.

"It's another tough loss, and it seems like it's hard to get that last win," Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick said. "We just have to get back to doing the things we have done all season to win games."