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Apr 22, 2016 - 10:06 PM As much of an advantage as it might seem for Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels to avoid facing Felix Hernandez, their assignment isn't necessarily any easier now.

Hours after Hernandez was scratched due to an illness, the Seattle Mariners look for Hisashi Iwakuma to continue his long-standing success against the Angels on Friday night.

This game was supposed to be the one in which Hernandez broke a tie with Randy Johnson as the Mariners' all-time strikeout leader, but the Mariners said that the flu will prevent him from taking the mound. It's unclear if Seattle's ace will start Saturday or Sunday instead.

Iwakuma (0-2, 4.50 ERA) is being moved up a day to take his place. Granted, he doesn't strike the kind of fear into hitters that Hernandez does - plus his ERA is 3 1/2 runs higher - but Iwakuma has long baffled most of the Angels. The right-hander is 8-3 with a 2.71 ERA in 13 starts against them, walking eight and striking out 67.

Iwakuma had a 1.69 ERA in his final three starts against the Angels last year. However, he hasn't looked as sharp in three this season and lost the last two, giving up a combined seven runs and 16 hits in 13 innings.

Trout is a career .222 hitter against him with only one homer in 36 at-bats.

The former MVP wasn't off to a particularly good start before going 5 for 6 in his last two games and homering in Thursday's 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.

"(I've) quieted myself down at the plate ... not trying to do too much and just hitting the ball hard," said the four-time All-Star, who is batting .385 with five homers over his last 14 games versus Seattle.

Albert Pujols has been even worse against Iwakuma with a .154 lifetime average, including 1 for 12 last season. Pujols is hitless in 15 at-bats over his last four games and hitting .120 with one home run in his past 13 meetings with the Mariners (7-8).

While the Angels (7-9) are coming home after a 5-5 road trip, Seattle is 4-2 on a nine-game road swing following Thursday's 10-7, 10-inning win over Cleveland.

Robinson Cano went 3 for 5 and delivered the go-ahead three-run homer in the top of 10th. However, he hasn't had much success at Angel Stadium, batting .204 with one home run in his last 14 games there.

Nick Tropeano (1-0, 0.84) will seek a third consecutive solid start to begin the season. Most recently, he allowed one run over 5 2-3 innings in Sunday's 3-2, 12-inning loss at Minnesota.

The right-hander, who is filling in for the injured Andrew Heaney, has surrendered four runs over 10 innings in winning both career outings versus Seattle.

The Angels took 12 of 19 matchups last season.