Mariners Set To Get A Whiff Of Colon At Angel Stadium
Bartolo Colon shoots for his seventh straight winning decision, as the LA Angels of Anaheim conclude a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday at Angel Stadium.Colon has not lost since July 16 against Minnesota, going 6-0 with a pair of no-decisions in his last eight starts. In his last two starts, he has yielded just two runs on 11 hits in 18 innings. The righthander was not involved in the decision in his last outing versus Oakland on August 30, despite allowing only one run on six hits in 9 1/3 innings of work. Colon is 8-4 at home this season with a 3.24 ERA in 14 starts. He owns an 8-8 lifetime mark versus the Mariners, including a 1-1 record in two starts against Seattle this year. Jeff Harris makes his third consecutive start and fourth of the season for the Mariners. The righthander has won his last two outings, posting victories over Texas and the Yankees. On August 25 versus the Rangers, he allowed just an unearned run on four hits in seven innings. Five days later against New York, Harris gave up three runs on six hits in 6 1/3 frames. Harris faced the Angels in relief on August 13 and surrendered just one run on two hits in 3 2/3 innings. He was not involved in the decision. In the middle contest of the set on Saturday, Raul Ibanez highlighted a four- run ninth inning with two RBI, leading the Mariners to a 6-3 win over the Angels. Ibanez finished with three hits and drove in three runs, helping the Mariners to their second victory in three games. Ichiro Suzuki ended 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored for Seattle. Vladimir Guerrero knocked in a pair of runs and Darin Erstad had two hits and an RBI, but the Angels saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. Anaheim has dropped six of its last nine contests. The Angels are tied with Oakland and New York atop the AL wild card standings. The Angels and Oakland are also tied for first place in the AL West. Scot Shields (8-10) suffered the loss in his inning of work. He was on the mound in the ninth with the game tied at two apiece and walked Mike Morse to start the inning. After Miguel Ojeda grounded out to move the runner up, Suzuki plated Morse with a single. Jason Christiansen took over for Shields and Greg Dobbs welcomed him with an RBI double. Ibanez then roped a two-run single for a 6-2 advantage. Anaheim got a run back in the bottom half courtesy of Guerrero's RBI double that scored Chone Figgins, who walked with one out and went to second base on a fielder's indifference. Erstad then grounded out to end the game. Seattle reliever J.J. Putz (5-5) got the win with 1 1/3 innings of work. He also struck out a batter. Seattle starter Ryan Franklin pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks, while Angels starter Jarrod Washburn lasted seven frames and yielded one run on three hits. The Angels, who took 13 of 20 meetings from Seattle last season, have won eight of the first 14 contests against the Mariners this year.
Copyright 2005 Courtesy of SportsNetwork.








