ANAHEIM, Calif. – Back at the stadium he called home for eight years, Jarrod Washburn pitched like he traditionally has on the road.
The Seattle left-hander beat his former Angels teammates for the second time this year, holding them to one run in his six innings Friday night in the Mariners’ 4-1 victory.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming into this place because I’d never pitched well here,” said Washburn, who had a 28-33 home record for the Angels from 1998-2005.
Washburn (4-7) added, “I haven’t been winning too much this season, so they all feel good.”
J.J. Putz pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.
Raul Ibanez hit a solo homer, his 11th, and Ichiro Suzuki had a double and single, stole two bases and scored a run for Seattle.
Washburn scattered six hits, walked one and struck out four.
The Angels let Washburn, who posted a 47-24 road record with them, go as a free agent after last season. He signed a four-year, $37.5-million contract with Seattle in December.
“I wanted to stay here, that didn’t happen, and I’m happy with where I am now,” he said.
Seattle manager Mike Hargrove was pleased the Mariners signed Washburn.
“We felt like Jarrod was one of the prize free agents last year and we felt very fortunate to be able to land him,” Hargrove said. “And he hasn’t been a disappointment.
“His record is not what he or we would hope, but he’s pitched every game awfully well except his last start, when he scuffled. We should have and could have won a lot more of the games he pitched in.”
Washburn had given up seven runs in 41/3 innings of a 9-4 loss to Kansas City last Sunday, his shortest outing of the season.
The victory was his first away from home for the Mariners and ended his 0-for-5 streak on the road dating back to last year with the Angels.
Noting the string of losses, Washburn said: “That’s pretty strange for me, considering my past and the fact that I’ve really done well on the road and not pitched well at home. It’s pretty ironic that the first road win of the year came here.”
Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia: “We made him work for it. When he needed to make pitches, he elevated his game like he can, and we couldn’t get a key hit off him.”
Kelvim Escobar (5-7) lost his fifth start in a row, again getting little offensive support. Two of Seattle’s four runs off him were unearned, scoring after Vladimir Guerrero let a grounder roll past him in right field for an error in the fourth inning.
Escobar was charged with four runs on seven hits in eight innings. He walked three and struck out four.
“It’s tough. I’ve been throwing the ball well and the record is not there,” Escobar said. “But if I keep throwing the way I have, everything will be OK. I don’t blame the guys. They’re trying hard.”
Los Angeles’ lone run off Washburn came on Guerrero’s run-scoring double in the fifth inning.
Ibanez gave Seattle a three-run lead with his homer in the eighth.
Because of Guerrero’s error – and a wild pitch by Escobar – the Mariners scored twice in the fourth with the benefit of only one hit. The Angels’ right-hander walked Carl Everett to open the inning, and, after Kenji Jochjima flied out, Jeremy Reed hit a sharp single to right. Guerrero charged the ball but it bounced under his glove and to the fence.
By the time he retrieved it, Everett had scored and Reed was on third. Reed came home to make it 3-0 when Escobar threw wide of the plate while pitching to Yuniesky Betancourt.
Jose Lopez’s RBI single in the third inning scored Suzuki, who had doubled and stolen third.
The victory was Seattle’s seventh in nine games following a six-game losing streak.
Washburn won his Mariners’ debut against the Angels on April 5, a 6-4 victory. He gave up two runs over seven innings but did not get a decision in Seattle’s 5-4, 13-inning win on May 13.
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