Mike Trout homered twice — the second one a three-run job after two batters walked ahead of him — and drove in five runs to spark the onslaught.

The youngest player in the majors at 20 years, 23 days, Trout started it in the second with a solo shot into the left-field bullpen on a 3-2 pitch from Anthony Vasquez (1-1).

Vasquez, making his second big-league start, walked the first two batters in the fourth before Trout added a three-run blast into the left-field seats for a 4-0 lead.

Since his recall Aug. 19, Trout has gone 9 for 21 with four home runs. He has three home runs in the past two games and now five in his 65-at-bat career.

He is the youngest Angels player to hit two home runs in a game.

“He hit some good pitches tonight,” Vasquez said. “I made a full-count changeup down the first at-bat and he stayed on it and put it out. The next one was down, a curve ball that the catcher might have had to block for crying out loud. He kind of just stayed on it.

“Those things you don’t get upset about. It’s the two guys before that were on because of walks that you get mad at yourself about.”

Mariners manager Eric Wedge that Trout “is a very talented young man and has some strength in that swing,” but said “the walks hurt us.

“And we just kept giving them extra opportunity,” he said, “and that is where they were able to separate.”

Seattle scored two in the fourth to cut the lead in half but it blew up for Vasquez and the Mariners in the Angels’ eight-run fifth inning.

The first eight hitters all scored and again walks were heavily involved as the Angels sent 12 batters to the plate.

Vasquez, the son of an Angels area scout, gave up the first two runs — he was charged with eight overall — and left with runners on first and third and one out.

Jeff Gray entered and walked three straight batters, forcing in two runs. Erick Aybar had the inning’s biggest hit, a two-run double.

It was the Angels’ biggest inning this season and the most runs in an inning since scoring nine on Aug. 16, 2009 in the 13th at Baltimore.

“He hasn’t had the command up here that we saw underneath,” Wedge said of Vasquez. “He is kind of an add and subtract guy, too, keeping you off-balance and pinpointing the baseball where he needs to. And we just haven’t seen that.”

This was the third time the Mariners have allowed eight runs in an inning this season.

All those runs gave comfort to Jerome Williams (2-0), who, like Vasquez, was making his second career start for the Angels. He disposed of nine straight Mariners on just 23 pitches over his first three innings.

“He is a strike thrower, maybe a bit overly so at times, but I’ll take that versus the other,” Wedge said of Williams. “Their guy did a good job. We were in there ready to hit. He made some pretty good pitches. He was pounding the zone.”

The Mariners reached Williams in the fourth. Mike Carp hit a RBI double into the left-field corner and Miguel Olivo beat out a RBI infield single to deep short.

The Mariners added another pair in the seventh on a two-out, bases-loaded single by Ichiro Suzuki. That extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Williams went seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Olivo, who had three hits, picked up his second infield-hit RBI in the Mariners’ two-run eighth off Bobby Cassevah.

Notes: Mike Carp has recorded 23 RBIs in August. With one game left this month, he is two off the club’s all-time monthly RBI record of 25 set by Danny Tartabull in July 1986 … Ichiro has recorded 265 hits in his career (197 games) against the Angels. That ranks fourth all-time behind George Brett (282), Carl Yastrzemski (281) and Cal Ripken Jr. (266).

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SEATTLE (AP) — The one thing that had been the Seattle Mariners strength during this otherwise challenging 2011 season is the one thing that failed them Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Angels.

Despite being 20 games under .500, Mariners pitchers had been consistently around the plate, with the third fewest walks in the American League. But Seattle walked seven batters and five would score in the Angels’ 13-6 rout.

Mike Trout homered twice — the second one a three-run job after two batters walked ahead of him — and drove in five runs to spark the onslaught.

The youngest player in the majors at 20 years, 23 days, Trout started it in the second with a solo shot into the left-field bullpen on a 3-2 pitch from Anthony Vasquez (1-1).

Vasquez, making his second big-league start, walked the first two batters in the fourth before Trout added a three-run blast into the left-field seats for a 4-0 lead.

Since his recall Aug. 19, Trout has gone 9 for 21 with four home runs. He has three home runs in the past two games and now five in his 65-at-bat career.

He is the youngest Angels player to hit two home runs in a game.

“He hit some good pitches tonight,” Vasquez said. “I made a full-count changeup down the first at-bat and he stayed on it and put it out. The next one was down, a curve ball that the catcher might have had to block for crying out loud. He kind of just stayed on it.

“Those things you don’t get upset about. It’s the two guys before that were on because of walks that you get mad at yourself about.”

Mariners manager Eric Wedge that Trout “is a very talented young man and has some strength in that swing,” but said “the walks hurt us.

“And we just kept giving them extra opportunity,” he said, “and that is where they were able to separate.”

Seattle scored two in the fourth to cut the lead in half but it blew up for Vasquez and the Mariners in the Angels’ eight-run fifth inning.

The first eight hitters all scored and again walks were heavily involved as the Angels sent 12 batters to the plate.

Vasquez, the son of an Angels area scout, gave up the first two runs — he was charged with eight overall — and left with runners on first and third and one out.

Jeff Gray entered and walked three straight batters, forcing in two runs. Erick Aybar had the inning’s biggest hit, a two-run double.

It was the Angels’ biggest inning this season and the most runs in an inning since scoring nine on Aug. 16, 2009 in the 13th at Baltimore.

“He hasn’t had the command up here that we saw underneath,” Wedge said of Vasquez. “He is kind of an add and subtract guy, too, keeping you off-balance and pinpointing the baseball where he needs to. And we just haven’t seen that.”

This was the third time the Mariners have allowed eight runs in an inning this season.

All those runs gave comfort to Jerome Williams (2-0), who, like Vasquez, was making his second career start for the Angels. He disposed of nine straight Mariners on just 23 pitches over his first three innings.

“He is a strike thrower, maybe a bit overly so at times, but I’ll take that versus the other,” Wedge said of Williams. “Their guy did a good job. We were in there ready to hit. He made some pretty good pitches. He was pounding the zone.”

The Mariners reached Williams in the fourth. Mike Carp hit a RBI double into the left-field corner and Miguel Olivo beat out a RBI infield single to deep short.

The Mariners added another pair in the seventh on a two-out, bases-loaded single by Ichiro Suzuki. That extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Williams went seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Olivo, who had three hits, picked up his second infield-hit RBI in the Mariners’ two-run eighth off Bobby Cassevah.

Notes: Mike Carp has recorded 23 RBIs in August. With one game left this month, he is two off the club’s all-time monthly RBI record of 25 set by Danny Tartabull in July 1986 … Ichiro has recorded 265 hits in his career (197 games) against the Angels. That ranks fourth all-time behind George Brett (282), Carl Yastrzemski (281) and Cal Ripken Jr. (266).

SEATTLE (AP) — Mike Trout failed to make much of an impression when he was first promoted to the Los Angeles Angels in July.

Now it’s hard not to notice him.

Trout, considered by many scouts to be the best prospect in baseball, homered twice and drove in five runs to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 13-6 rout of the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

The Angels are still 3 1/2 games behind Texas in the AL West as the Rangers also won.

The youngest player in the majors at 20 years, 23 days, Trout started the onslaught in the second with a solo shot into the left-field bullpen on a 3-2 pitch from Anthony Vasquez (1-1).

Vasquez, making his second big-league start, walked the first two batters in the fourth before Trout added a three-run blast into the left-field seats for a 4-0 lead.

“I don’t have that anxiousness to hit the ball,” Trout said. “The first time I got up here I wanted to hit it hard every time to impress everyone. Now I’m just trying to be myself and not trying to do too much.”

He made his big-league debut July 8 but in 14 games he hit just .163 with one home run and 6 RBI. He was sent back to Double-A Arkansas July 29 before being recalled Aug. 19.

Since his recall, he’s gone 9 for 21 with four home runs. He has three home runs in the past two games and now five in his 65-at-bat career.

“Since the first (callup) it’s like two different things,” he said. “The first couple weeks I was jittery. Now I actually feel calm in the box, looking for my pitch.”

Manager Mike Scioscia said that Trout, the team’s first-round draft choice in 2009, is just continuing where he left off in the minors where he hit .333 with 10 extra-base hits in 16 games.

“He wasn’t overmatched his first go-around. Maybe didn’t get as many hits to fall in but he wasn’t overmatched,” Scioscia said. “No doubt when you come up here, no matter how talented you are, when you start to have success and start to achieve, that’s the litmus test, that’s the proving ground and you carry that momentum forward. And it becomes confidence.

“He’s doing some things that should give any player confidence.”

He is the youngest Angels player to hit two home runs in a game.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge that Trout “is a very talented young man and has some strength in that swing.”

The Angels have hit at least one homer in 20 of the past 21 games. They also have 75 road home runs compared to 48 at home.

Seattle scored two in the fourth to cut the lead in half but it blew up for Vasquez and the Mariners in the Angels’ eight-run fifth inning. The first eight hitters all scored.

It was the Angels’ biggest inning this season and the most runs in an inning since scoring nine on Aug. 16, 2009 in the 13th at Baltimore.

Vasquez, the son of an Angels area scout, gave up the first two runs — he was charged with eight overall — and left with runners on first and third and one out.

Jeff Gray entered and walked three straight batters, forcing in two runs. Erick Aybar had the inning’s biggest hit, a two-run double.

This was the sixth time this season the Angels have scored 10 or more runs. It was their second-highest scoring game, two short of a season-high 15 on April 19 at Texas.

All those runs gave comfort to Jerome Williams (2-0), who, like Vasquez, was making his second career start. He disposed of nine straight Mariners on just 23 pitches over his first three innings.

“I don’t believe he’s 20,” Williams said of Trout. “He got me two tonight. He helped me a lot.”

The Mariners reached Williams in the fourth. Mike Carp hit a RBI double into the left-field corner and Miguel Olivo beat out a RBI infield single to deep short.

The Mariners added another pair in the seventh on a two-out, bases-loaded single by Ichiro Suzuki. That extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Williams went seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Olivo, who had three hits, picked up his second infield-hit RBI in the Mariners’ two-run eighth off Bobby Cassevah.

Notes: Angels manager Mike Scioscia said when rosters expand Thursday “we’ll definitely add a pitcher and a couple position players.” Eventually, the club plans to add eight or nine players besides four or five callups. … The Mariners also should have three veterans back from the DL early next month: 1B Justin Smoak (broken nose), 3B Chone Figgins (right hip flexor) and SS/2B Jack Wilson (heel). “I’m anxious to see (Smoak) play,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “He needs to play up here.” … The Mariners will send Felix Hernandez (12-11, 3.37 ERA) to the mound Wednesday. He was be opposed by Dan Haren (13-7, 3.19). Hernandez went 13-12 last season when he won the AL Cy Young Award. He is 4-9 in 23 career starts against the Angels. Haren is 9-4 in 17 career starts against Seattle.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Aug. 31, 2011

SEATTLE — Mike Trout failed to make much of an impression when he was first promoted to the Los Angeles Angels in July.

Now it’s hard not to notice him.

Trout, considered by many scouts to be the best prospect in baseball, had two home runs and five RBI to lead the Angels to a 13-6 rout of the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

The Angels are still 3½ games behind Texas in the AL West as the Rangers also won.

The youngest player in the majors at 20 years, 23 days, Trout started the onslaught in the second with a solo shot into the left-field bullpen on a 3-2 pitch from Anthony Vasquez (1-1).

Vasquez, making his second big-league start, walked the first two batters in the fourth before Trout added a three-run blast into the left-field seats for a 4-0 lead.

“I don’t have that anxiousness to hit the ball,” Trout said. “The first time I got up here I wanted to hit it hard every time to impress everyone. Now I’m just trying to be myself and not trying to do too much.”

He made his big-league debut July 8 but in 14 games he hit only .163 with one home run and six RBI. He was sent back to Double-A Arkansas July 29 before being recalled Aug. 19.

Since his recall, he has gone 9 for 21 with four home runs. He has three home runs in the past two games and now five in his 65-at-bat career.

“Since the first [callup] it’s like two different things,” he said. “The first couple weeks, I was jittery. Now I actually feel calm in the box, looking for my pitch.”

Manager Mike Scioscia said that Trout, the team’s first-round draft choice in 2009, is just continuing where he left off in the minors where he hit .333 with 10 extra-base hits in 16 games.

“He wasn’t overmatched his first go-around. Maybe didn’t get as many hits to fall in but he wasn’t overmatched,” Scioscia said. “No doubt when you come up here, no matter how talented you are, when you start to have success and start to achieve, that’s the litmus test, that’s the proving ground and you carry that momentum forward. And it becomes confidence.

“He’s doing some things that should give any player confidence.”

He is the youngest Angels player to hit two home runs in a game.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge that Trout “is a very talented young man and has some strength in that swing.”

The Angels have hit at least one home run in 20 of the past 21 games. They also have 75 road home runs compared to 48 at home.

Seattle scored two in the fourth to cut the lead in half but it blew up for Vasquez and the Mariners in the Angels’ eight-run fifth inning. The first eight hitters all scored.

It was the Angels’ biggest inning this season and the most runs in an inning since scoring nine on Aug. 16, 2009, in the 13th at Baltimore.

Vasquez, the son of an Angels area scout, gave up the first two runs — he was charged with eight overall — and left with runners on first and third and one out.

Jeff Gray entered and walked three consecutive batters, forcing in two runs. Erick Aybar had the inning’s biggest hit, a two-run double.

This was the sixth time this season the Angels have scored 10 or more runs. It was their second-highest scoring game, two short of a season-high 15 on April 19 at Texas.

All those runs gave comfort to Jerome Williams (2-0), who, like Vasquez, was making his second career start. He disposed of nine consecutive Mariners on only 23 pitches over his first three innings.

“I don’t believe he’s 20,” Williams said of Trout. “He got me two tonight. He helped me a lot.”

The Mariners reached Williams in the fourth. Mike Carp hit a RBI double into the left-field corner and Miguel Olivo beat out a RBI infield single to deep short.

The Mariners added another pair in the seventh on a two-out, bases-loaded single by Ichiro Suzuki. That extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Williams went seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Olivo, who had three hits, picked up his second infield-hit RBI in the Mariners’ two-run eighth off Bobby Cassevah.

Notes

• Angels manager Mike Scioscia said when rosters expand Thursday “we’ll definitely add a pitcher and a couple position players.” Eventually, the club plans to add eight or nine players besides four or five callups.
• The Mariners also should have three veterans back from the DL early next month: 1B Justin Smoak (broken nose), 3B Chone Figgins (right hip flexor) and SS/2B Jack Wilson (heel). “I’m anxious to see [Smoak] play,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “He needs to play up here.”
• The Mariners will send Felix Hernandez (12-11, 3.37 ERA) to the mound Wednesday. He will be opposed by Dan Haren (13-7, 3.19). Hernandez went 13-12 last season when he won the AL Cy Young Award. He is 4-9 in 23 career starts against the Angels. Haren is 9-4 in 17 career starts against Seattle.

SEATTLE, Aug. 31 (UPI) — Mike Trout hit two home runs and drove in five runs Tuesday in the Los Angeles Angels’ 13-6 win over the Seattle Mariners.

The 12-hit attack snapped the Angels’ two-game losing streak and kept them 3 1/2 games behind first-place Texas in the American League West.

Jerome Williams (2-0) gave up four runs on seven hits in seven innings for the victory. He struck out six and won for the second time since returning to the Major Leagues following a stint in Taiwan that began after the 2007 season.

Erik Aybar added a two-run double for the Angels, who scored eight runs in the fourth inning to blow the game open.

Ichiro Suzuki extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a two-run single in the seventh inning. Miguel Olivo was 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Anthony Vasquez (1-1) took the loss in his second Major League start. Vasquez allowed eight runs — seven earned — in four-plus innings.

SEATTLE (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels are not going to get any help from the young Seattle Mariners in their pursuit of the firs-place Rangers.

The last-place, nothing-to-lose Mariners, with a roster bulging with eager-to-prove rookies, played what manager Eric Wedge called “our best game” Monday night in a 5-3 victory over the Angels.

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 lap 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 gap in left. Ackley drove a run-scoring triple into the gap 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.