Fri Apr 18 12:01:50 2008

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Mariners strive to end road jinx in Anaheim

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(Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hope to continue their recent home mastery of the Seattle Mariners this evening, when the two AL West rivals start a three-game series at Angel Stadium.

The Angels won seven of their 10 home matchups with the Mariners last season and are 11-3 in their last 14 games against Seattle while serving as the host.

Los Angeles enters this series on a winning note, as Garret Anderson stroked a three-run double and Jon Garland pitched well into the seventh inning to lead the Angels to a 5-3 victory over Kansas City last night.

Erick Aybar had two hits and an RBI for Los Angeles, which had lost six in a row to Kansas City going back to last season. That included a 3-2 defeat on Wednesday. One night later, the defending American League West champions got to an early lead and were able to hold on for their fourth victory in their last five overall games.

Garland (2-2), making the 250th appearance of his career, allowed seven hits and two runs over 6 1/3 innings. He improved to 17-6 lifetime against the Royals, and that includes an 11-1 home mark.

Francisco Rodriguez allowed a run in a shaky ninth inning, but managed to record his sixth save.

Heading to the hill tonight for the Angels will be left-hander Joe Saunders, who is 2-0 with a 1.27 ERA this season. Saunders earned the win on Sunday against the Mariners, as he allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Saunders is 2-1 lifetime against the M's with a 6.16 ERA in four starts.

Seattle will counter with right-hander R.A. Dickey, who will be making his first start since April of 2006, while with the Texas Rangers. He is getting the nod in place of the injured Erik Bedard, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier this week.

Dickey, who did not pitch in the majors last season, is 3-2 with a save and a 3.68 ERA in 14 games (5 starts) against the Angels.

The Mariners also enter tonight's matchup on a high note after Carlos Silva pitched seven effective innings on Thursday to lead Seattle past Oakland, 8-1.

Jose Lopez finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and Jose Vidro also drove home a pair of runs for the Mariners, who swept the brief set with the A's and have won three in a row overall. Raul Ibanez totaled three hits while driving in and scoring a run.

Silva (3-0) lowered his earned run average to 2.79 after giving up one run on four hits with two walks and one strikeout. He threw 65 of his 98 pitches for strikes. His success comes one night after teammate Felix Hernandez threw a complete game in a 4-2 decision over Oakland.

Seattle took two of three from the Angels last weekend, but is 17-24 in the series since the start of the 2006 campaign.