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Santana hopes to join teammate Saunders in 14-win club

Aug 13, 2008 - 10:07 AM Seattle (45-74) at LA Angels (75-43) 10:05 pm EDT

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Last season, Ervin Santana was merely a talented underachiever while Joe Saunders struggled to stay in the majors.

On Wednesday, Santana hopes to join his teammate in the 14-win club when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim meet the Seattle Mariners.

Santana (13-5, 3.45 ERA) labored through a difficult season in 2007, going 7-14 with a 5.76 ERA while opposing hitters hit .288 against him. Saunders (14-5) was a bit better, going 8-5 with a 4.44 ERA, but he found himself optioned to the minors on three different occasions.

Last year's struggles have seemingly inspired the duo as one has followed the other with wins in consecutive games eight times in 2008. Angels manager Mike Scioscia split up the pair from starting consecutive games following the All-Star break. Saunders has continued to thrive, but Santana has faded, going 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA.

The righthander has allowed opponents to bat .233 this season while striking out a career-high 150. Santana won his last start largely because his offense picked him up as he allowed four runs and eight hits over seven innings in last Wednesday's 9-4 triumph over the Baltimore Orioles.

He will be opposed by Felix Hernandez (7-7, 2.94), who is 1-1 since the All-Star break with a 2.90 ERA. Despite not allowing more than three earned runs in any of his last 11 starts, the righthander is only 4-2 in that time in part because he has received one run or less of support in three of his past six outings.

However, Hernandez didn't require much help on Thursday, yielding one run and four hits over eight innings in Seattle's 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay.