SEATTLE ()—Of all the batters for Felix Hernandez(notes) to make a mistake
against, it had to be Adrian Beltre(notes).

It was bad enough that Beltre’s two-run homer was his 27th of the season and
the deciding blow in the Texas Rangers’ 3-0 win over the Seattle Mariners on
Sunday.

What makes it worse is all the smack talk Hernandez will have to hear from
his good friend and former teammate.

“(It’s) always, always going to be like that,” Hernandez said of the trash
he talks with his friend. “He got me with his bat today and we’ll get another
one in Texas.”

Hernandez and Beltre became part of the attraction Sunday when Hernandez
missed with a two-strike, two-out fastball in the fourth inning and Beltre lined
a two-run shot into the bullpen in left field. By the time Beltre rounded third,
he was already jabbering with Hernandez as the two friends traded barbs.

“It was nice because he’s always talking smack to me. We talk smack back
and forth and he got my number,” Beltre said. “I told him all I wanted to do
was take him deep and I did it so I was yping back to him.”

While the Hernandez-Beltre battle became a little side story to Sunday’s
loss, the bigger concern is Seattle’s continuing issues with striking out. Texas
starter Matt Harrison(notes) (13-9) struck out a career-high nine and the Mariners
finished with 14 strikeouts on the day.

Seattle batters have struck out at least nine times in nine of the past 10
games and over those 10 games, Seattle has struck out 120 times.

The Mariners currently have 1,201 strikeouts for the season, setting a new
team record. It’s also the 14th most in American League history and if the
problem doesn’t change over the final 10 games, the Mariners could be climbing
much higher on the all-time list.

“We’re facing playoff teams right now, some tough teams, playing their ‘A’
game every time out. Not to say we’re not, but they have their best guys going
and they are doing everything they can to win so they are going to be tough,”
Seattle’s Mike Carp(notes) said. “It’s good for us—not to struggle but to remember
it going into next year. We’ll face these guys and not let them beat us like
that.”

In his final home start of the season, Hernandez (14-13) wasn’t his
sharpest. The reigning AL Cy Young winner gave up nine hits and struck out five,
but lost his second straight decision.

He also lost for the third time to Texas with one more start against the
Rangers coming next weekend.

“They have a pretty good lineup and you’ve got to respect that. You have to
make good pitches,” Hernandez said. “You don’t get a break in any spot from
first to ninth. They can hit—hit homers—so you have to make good pitches.”

Only once did Seattle advance a runner to third base against Harrison and
that came in the seventh inning. Harrison left with two outs after Ichiro
Suzuki’s(notes) infield hit glanced off Harrison’s glove and Elvis Andrus(notes) couldn’t get
to it in time. Suzuki’s 173rd hit of the season loaded the bases for Luis
Gonzalez, who had doubled off Harrison in his previous at bat.

Instead of risking it, Rangers manager Ron Washington went to Koji Uehara(notes).
The move worked as Uehara struck out Rodriguez to end Seattle’s best scoring
chance.

Carp nearly ended the shutout in the eighth, but Josh Hamilton(notes) robbed him of
a homer with a leing catch at the wall in left to end the inning. Neftali
Feliz(notes) then picked up his 28th save in 34 chances, pitching the ninth and adding
a couple of more strikeouts to the ledger.

“Going up against that guy you know it’s always tough,” Harrison said of
Hernandez. “You just try and keep the game close and make your pitches and try
and stay in the game as long as possible.”

It was an important victory for Texas, remaining 4 1/2 games ahead of the Los
Angeles Angels in the AL West after the Angels beat Baltimore earlier Sunday.

Notes: Texas is 12-4 vs. Seattle this season with three games left in Texas
next weekend. … Seattle 3B Chone Figgins(notes) will not play again this season with
a hip flexor injury, manager Eric Wedge said. … Seattle will make a detour to
Cleveland for a makeup game on Monday. The game was one of two makeups after the
Indians and Mariners were rained out on May 14 and 15. Seattle then opens a
three-game series in Minnesota on Tuesday. … LHP Charlie Furbush(notes) will start
for Seattle against the Indians. He is just 2-6 in eight starts since coming
over in late July in a trade with Detroit. … Sunday was the first time since
July 31 most of a Mariners game has been played with the Safeco Field roof
closed. It was closed in the top of the first inning on Sunday after closing in
the eighth inning of Saturday’s game.

Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Charlie Furbush throws to the plate during the first inning of their baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011, in Anaheim.

Maicer Izturis hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning, rewarding Jerome Williams for pitching eight innings of one-hit ball in the Los Angeles Angels’ 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.
Peter Bourjos added a run-scoring single in the eighth as Los Angeles trimmed the Texas Rangers’ AL West lead to 2½ games with a dramatic rally for its 10th win in 12 home games.
Williams (3-0) narrowly outdueled Seattle rookie left-hander Charlie Furbush (3-8), who held the Angels scoreless until the eighth.
Trayvon Robinson’s sixth-inning leadoff homer was the Mariners’ only hit off Williams, a journeyman right-hander who has made three strong starts for Los Angeles down the playoff stretch.
All-Star closer Jordan Walden pitched a hitless ninth for his 29th save as the Angels again gained ground on the defending AL champion Rangers, who lost 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Rays earlier Wednesday.
Williams struck out five and walked one in the latest step of his improbable comeback. He hadn’t won in the majors since Sept. 25, 2005, before beating Baltimore on Aug. 21, and he has filled a ging hole in the Angels’ top-heavy roster since Joel Pineiro and Tyler Chatwood both struggled in recent weeks.
Williams retired 15 of the Mariners’ first 16 hitters, yielding only Mike Carp’s leadoff walk in the second inning until Robinson connected. The Los Angeles native’s drive to right field was caught on the fly by a fan in the front row of the short porch in right field.
Both starters worked quickly and smoothly in the series finale on another uncomfortably warm night in Orange County until the big finish.
Furbush yielded five hits and one walk, throwing 100 pitches in the longest start of his career. The rookie has lost four straight starts with the club that acquired him from Detroit in late July, but he thoroughly dominated the Angels until his final inning.
The Angels finally rallied when Erick Aybar reached on a one-out infield single in the eighth, advancing to second on a wild pitch. After pinch-hitter Alberto Callaspo walked, Izturis put a drive into the left-center g, easily scoring Aybar and pinch-runner Jeremy Moore.
Bourjos then connected against reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, scoring Aybar. The speedy Bourjos motored to third base when Wilhelmsen’s pickoff throw went past Justin Smoak, but Ichiro Suzuki bounced off the wall to make a leing catch on Torii Hunter’s inning-ending drive to right.
One night after Felix Hernandez limited the Angels’ surging offense to four hits and one unearned run in the Mariners’ skid-snping win, Furbush got agonizingly close to an impressive win. Despite his pedestrian record, Furbush has showed signs of dominance this season, notably pitching seven innings of one-run ball against the mighty Boston Red Sox last month.
The Mariners backed him with exceptional infield defense, including third baseman Alex Liddi’s difficult stop and throw to nip Hunter in the seventh.
NOTES: Liddi went 0 for 2 in his major league debut. The Italian-born infielder is the first graduate of the MLB European Academy to reach the majors. … The Angels have Thursday off before opening a weekend series against the New York Yankees, while the Mariners return home Thursday to face Kansas City in a four-game series. … Los Angeles has just one homestand left after facing New York. The Angels finish the regular season against AL West rivals Oakland and Texas.

Four outs from another of their, “Sorry, Felix” losses, the Seattle Mariners realized they wouldn’t need the last three.

A two-out, two-run double from Mike Carp in the eighth inning brought the Mariners from behind Wednesday and allowed Felix Hernandez to win his 13th game as he beat the Los Angeles Angels, 2-1.

Bottom of the ninth? Not necessary.

“Felix was the story,” Carp insisted. “His stuff was electric again, and late in the game we needed a big hit to get him a win. We pulled it out in the end.”

Matched against right-hander Dan Haren, Hernandez was losing 1-0 until that eighth inning, having allowed the Angels their lone run in the third.

The Mariners rallied against Haren to load the bases in the seventh inning on two singles and a two-out error, but Haren got a sharp comebacker from Brendan Ryan to esce clean.

“That seventh inning wore him down a little, I think,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We made him work hard.”

And in the eighth, with two out and no one on base?

Franklin Gutierrez singled. Dustin Ackley singled – and Angels manager Mike Scioscia went to his bullpen for left-hander Scott Downs to face the left-handed hitting Carp.

It didn’t bother Carp.

“He’s still got to throw strikes, I’ve still got to get a pitch to hit and put a good swing on it,” Carp said. “It doesn’t change my job. My job there was to get the run in … He left a pitch up, I got it and we got two runs in.”

Carp’s double to left-center field hit and stuck at the base of the wall, allowing Ackley to score from first base without a throw – and pin the loss on Haren, watching from the dugout.

Needing three more outs, Wedge had a decision to make. Bring in closer Brandon League or let the 2010 American League Cy Young winner finish the game.

No contest.

“You love to see him finish it off,” Wedge said. “It is a big deal. Felix is a true ace, and for our guys to step up late for him, get him the chance for a win? That’s big for the whole club.”

“Ninety-seven pitches? Of course I’m going back out there,” Felix said, laughing.

He struck out Bobby Abreu. Struck out Torii Hunter. Then Mark Trumbo hit a long fly ball to right field.

“The fly ball, I was like ‘Nooooo,’ ” Felix said, shaking his head.

Casper Wells, playing right field, hauled it in.

For Hernandez, the win was No. 13 this season against 11 losses, lowering his earned-run average to 3.27. He has pitched 209 innings in 2011, struck out 204 batters – nine of them Wednesday.

The third strikeout, Erick Aybar in the third inning, brought the 18,520 Safeco Field fans to their feet, aware that it had moved Felix past Jamie Moyer and into second place on the franchise all-time “K” list – behind Randy Johnson.

While honoring former teammate Moyer, Felix was hard pressed not to talk about Carp – well, Carp and his rookie teammates.

“Carp and all those young guys,” Hernandez said. “They play tough, they have a little attitude. When I was young, I was exactly the same.”

Felix is 25.

Still, he had a point.

Down to what peared to be their final four outs, the Mariners got a single from veteran Gutierrez, then hits from two rookies to extend the rally and win a game.

Seattle had six hits, and five belonged to rookies – two for Carp, two for Kyle Seager and Ackley’s one.

Carp’s two RBI gave him 25 for August, tying Danny Tartabull’s 1986 club rookie record for RBI in a month. Had he ever had a month like it?

“I don’t know,” he said. “It was a big month – and it was nice to play a month in the big leagues. I was down in the minors the last three years. I want to play.”

Then he was asked the importance of winning for a team in fourth place in the American League West.

“It’s a matter of showing teams in our own division what we’ve got,” Carp said. “It gives us – and maybe them – something to think about next year.”

Now 58-77, the Mariners have taken two of the first three games in this series from the Angels, preventing Los Angeles from getting closer than 31/2 games behind Texas.

The Mariners finished August 13-15, with Felix winning four of those games. As for Carp, the first baseman/designated hitter hit safely in 24 of the 27 games he played in the month, batting .313 with six home runs and 25 RBI.

larry.larue@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners

Felix Hernandez pitched a five-hitter and Mike Carp hit a two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 2-1 comeback victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.

The loss prevented the Angels from gaining ground on first-place Texas in the AL West. The Rangers, who earlier lost to Tampa Bay 5-1, maintain a 3½-game lead.

Hernandez (13-11), who dueled with Angels starter Dan Haren all night, gave up five hits, walked one and struck out nine in his fifth complete game of the season.

At one point, Haren (13-8) retired 15 batters in a row. After a one-out double to Kyle Seager, he didn’t allow another baserunner until Franklin Gutierrez’s one-out single in the seventh.

Haren allowed two earned runs, walked one and struck out seven in 7 2-3 innings.

The Mariners built a rally in the seventh. With two outs, Seager singled to left and Casper Wells reached on an error by third baseman Alberto Callaspo. That brought up Brendan Ryan with the bases loaded. Haren induced Ryan to hit a one-hopper back to the mound for an easy putout.

But Haren could not esce the eighth. With two outs, the Mariners rallied again. Gutierrez singled and Dustin Ackley singled, moving Gutierrez to third and chasing Haren.

Scott Downs entered and on a 1-2 pitch, Carp drilled his double against the left-center-field wall. That gave him 25 RBI in August, tying Danny Tartabull for the most for a rookie in any month.

Carp also had a game-winning two-run home run Monday to beat the Angels.

The Angels’ run came in the third. Mike Trout opened with a single to center. Expecting a low-scoring game, Angels manager Mike Scioscia chose to manufacture a run. He had Jeff Mathis sacrifice Trout to second with bunt.

Erick Aybar struck out, giving Hernandez 1,240 career strikeouts. That moved him ahead of Jamie Moyer for second place on the franchise strikeout list. Randy Johnson leads with 2,162.

Howie Kendrick followed with a two-out single through the left side. Trout scored without a throw.

This was a typical Hernandez-Haren matchup. The right-handers had opposed each other three times previously. Coming in, Hernandez was 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 26 strikeouts in his three starts. Haren was 1-1 with a 0.83 ERA and 18 strikeouts.

Aybar had a bunt single in the eighth — the team’s major league-leading 34th — to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Ichiro Suzuki went hitless in his four at-bats to end his 13-game hitting streak.

Notes: NASCAR driver Kurt Busch threw out the first pitch. … Scioscia said that RH Jerome Williams, who has had two strong starts, “definitely has pitched well enough to continue to start.” He said the club will adjust the rotation over the final months to rest or move up starters. … The Mariners will bring up two and possibly three players Thursday when rosters expand. All three are likely to be pitchers. Mariners manager Eric Wedge said two more players will be promoted when the minor league seasons end. … RHP Ervin Santana (10-9, 3.24 ERA) takes the mound in the final game of the four-game series Thursday. He has worked at least seven innings in his last eight starts, going 6-1. He is 10-5 with a 3.68 ERA in 24 career starts against Seattle. … Seattle will start LHP Charlie Furbush, who is 2-3 with a 6.48 ERA in his six pearances since arriving in a July 30 trade with Detroit. In his first big-league start July 4 when he was with the Tigers, he lost to the Angels, 5-1.

SEATTLE () – Felix Hernandez pitched a five-hitter and Mike Carp hit a two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 2-1 comeback victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.

The loss prevented the Angels from gaining ground on first-place Texas in the AL West. The Rangers, who earlier lost to Tampa Bay 5-1, maintain a 3½-game lead.

Hernandez (13-11), who dueled with Angels starter Dan Haren all night, gave up five hits, walked one and struck out nine in his fifth complete game of the season.

At one point, Haren (13-8) retired 15 batters in a row. After a one-out double to Kyle Seager, he didn’t allow another baserunner until Franklin Gutierrez’s one-out single in the seventh.

Haren allowed two earned runs, walked one and struck out seven in 7 2-3 innings.

The Mariners built a rally in the seventh. With two outs, Seager singled to left and Casper Wells reached on an error by third baseman Alberto Callaspo. That brought up Brendan Ryan with the bases loaded. Haren induced Ryan to hit a one-hopper back to the mound for an easy putout.

But Haren could not esce the eighth. With two outs, the Mariners rallied again. Gutierrez singled and Dustin Ackley singled, moving Gutierrez to third and chasing Haren.

Scott Downs entered and on a 1-2 pitch, Carp drilled his double against the left-center-field wall. That gave him 25 RBI in August, tying Danny Tartabull for the most for a rookie in any month.

Carp also had a game-winning two-run home run Monday to beat the Angels.

The Angels’ run came in the third. Mike Trout opened with a single to center. Expecting a low-scoring game, Angels manager Mike Scioscia chose to manufacture a run. He had Jeff Mathis sacrifice Trout to second with bunt.

Erick Aybar struck out, giving Hernandez 1,240 career strikeouts. That moved him ahead of Jamie Moyer for second place on the franchise strikeout list. Randy Johnson leads with 2,162.

Howie Kendrick followed with a two-out single through the left side. Trout scored without a throw.

This was a typical Hernandez-Haren matchup. The right-handers had opposed each other three times previously. Coming in, Hernandez was 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 26 strikeouts in his three starts. Haren was 1-1 with a 0.83 ERA and 18 strikeouts.

Aybar had a bunt single in the eighth – the team’s major league-leading 34th – to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Ichiro Suzuki went hitless in his four at-bats to end his 13-game hitting streak.

Notes: NASCAR driver Kurt Busch threw out the first pitch. … Scioscia said that RH Jerome Williams, who has had two strong starts, “definitely has pitched well enough to continue to start.” He said the club will adjust the rotation over the final months to rest or move up starters. … The Mariners will bring up two and possibly three players Thursday when rosters expand. All three are likely to be pitchers. Mariners manager Eric Wedge said two more players will be promoted when the minor league seasons end. … RHP Ervin Santana (10-9, 3.24 ERA) takes the mound in the final game of the four-game series Thursday. He has worked at least seven innings in his last eight starts, going 6-1. He is 10-5 with a 3.68 ERA in 24 career starts against Seattle. … Seattle will start LHP Charlie Furbush, who is 2-3 with a 6.48 ERA in his six pearances since arriving in a July 30 trade with Detroit. In his first big-league start July 4 when he was with the Tigers, he lost to the Angels, 5-1.

The loss dropped the Angels 3½ games behind idle Texas in the AL West with 28 games to go.

Mike Carp connected on a first-pitch slider from Hisanori Takahashi (3-3) in the eighth inning for a long two-run home run, providing the Mariners with the deciding margin.

Rookie Dustin Ackley, who had three hits and a pair of RBIs, opened the eighth with a double. Carp then hit the pitch into a fan’s l in the second-deck restaurant in left field.

“After he hit it I just stopped. I’m just going to watch this ball and see where it ends up,” Ackley said. “Even in BP you don’t see many balls land up that high, especially a first-pitch breaking ball like that. That’s pretty impressive.”

The ball was estimated to have traveled 432 feet.

Takahashi said his pitch to Carp was in the wrong zone.

“I wanted it down and away,” Takahashi said through an interpreter, “but it was on the opposite side.”

Rookie Tom Wilhelmsen (2-0) earned the victory with one inning of relief. Brandon League finished the ninth for his 32nd save in 37 opportunities.

First baseman Mark Trumbo hit his team-leading 24th home run, a two-run shot in the fourth.

Ichiro Suzuki had two doubles and extended his hitting streak to a season-high 12 games.

Suzuki has had 40 career double-digit hitting streaks, tied with Pete Rose for the fifth most since 1918. The others in front of him are Ty Cobb (65), Hank Aaron (44), Al Simmons (42) and Stan Musial (41).

“It’s one of those nights he (Takahashi) just didn’t get one pitch where he wanted and that was it,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

Scioscia was asked before the game whether Seattle, at 57-76, is still a dangerous team to play. He said Seattle “has a lot of talent. A lot of it is young but it’s good, good young arms … (but) I want our guys to play free, to play easy and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”

The Mariners took the early lead with a pair of sacrifice flies, but the Angels charged ahead with a three-run fourth.

Torii Hunter singled just before Trumbo launched his ball off the left-field upper-deck facade, on a 1-0 pitch from rookie Blake Beavan. The Angels have had at least one home run in 19 of their last 20 games.

The Angels added another in the inning. Vernon Wells singled to center followed by Erick Aybar’s RBI double into deep right-center.

The Mariners tied it in the fifth, also with two outs. Suzuki doubled into the g in left. Ackley drove a run-scoring triple into the g in right for a 3-3 score.

“That was a big pitch,” Joel Pineiro said of his pitch to Ackley. “I was not going to give him something to hit but the ball stayed up in the zone, a sinker that stayed up and he made me pay for it.”

Scioscia said Pineiro, who hasn’t won since he beat the Mariners July 9, will continue to get the ball.

“He’d get another start. He gave us a chance to win,” he said. “He’s not locked in where he was earlier in the season but he first came off the DL but he has made strides from when he was taken out of the rotation.

“Hopefully, he will continue because we are going to need him,” Scioscia added. “We need depth in the rotation.”

The Mariners played exceptional defense to stymie potential rallies.

Shortstop Brendan Ryan made a barehanded grab of Peter Bourjos’ spinning groundball to finish the Angels’ threat in the fourth.

Casper Wells threw a hard, accurate strike on the fly to second base in the third inning to nail Bourjos trying to stretch a single.

Then in the seventh Wells did it again. The Angels had something going with speedy Aybar on first and one out. As Aybar broke for second, Bourjos hit a line shot to left. Wells raced in, caught on the run and quickly fired to first to double up Aybar.

“That’s my favorite thing to do,” said Wells, in his first season, “come up throwing.”

Notes: The Angels have lost three of their last four after winning six straight. … Trumbo leads the team in home runs (24) and RBI (71). No Angels rookie has ever led the team in both categories in a season.

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