Mariners at Angels 9/11 Recap: Hideki Matsui Blast and Small Ball Prevails 7-3

The visiting Seattle Mariners must have been exhausted from the 14 inning showdown on Friday night as the Los Angeles Angels continued to build cohesive offense late in the season.

Kendrick drove in an early run, and Hideki Matsui produced a solo home run to jump to a 2-0 lead.  Efficient pitching from Ervin Santana kept Seattle scoreless through the first half of the game.

Perhaps the best baseball of the season came in the bottom of the fifth inning when two bunts loaded the bases with no outs with a 2-0 lead. Despite a force out at home the Angels extended their lead, Bobby Abreu sacrificed and Torii Hunter got a two RBI hit coming through to deliver a 5-0 Angel advantage.

Santana pitched shutout baseball through seven innings giving up only three hits. Felix Hernandez was lifted in the bottom of the seventh inning after walking Bobby Abreu and allowing six hits.  Relief pitcher Jamie Wright entered the game and gave up Torii Hunter's second two RBI hit.

Major League Debuts were made for Hank Conger and Mark Trumbo in the bottom of the seventh inning.  Both rookies struck out but were applauded for their appearance.

Santana ran into some hard luck as Torii Hunter took a fly ball to the shoulder on a routine fly, and Ichiro smacked a three run home run to reduce the Angel lead to 7-3.

Francisco Rodriguez replaced Santana and pitched scoreless baseball.  The mound was handed over to Kevin Jepsen in the ninth inning who pitched 9 of his first ten strikes including two strike outs and then gave up a run forcing Fernando Rodney to come in to face Ichiro who lined out to end the game 7-3.

Time of Game: 2:56

Attendance: 39,123.

Sunday's match-up between the Mariners and Angels begins with Angels On Air at 11:30 in the morning on Angels flagship station AM 830, KLAA.  First pitch is set for 12:35 PM.