ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Felix Hernandez pitched eight innings of four-hit ball to win at Angel Stadium for the first time since 2006, and the Seattle Mariners snapped a five-game skid and slowed the Los Angeles Angels’ playoff surge with a 2-1 victory Tuesday night.

Justin Smoak and Kyle Seager scored unearned runs for the Mariners, who had lost 18 of their last 21 games at Angel Stadium before Hernandez (14-11) outdueled Ervin Santana and silenced the Angels’ improved lineup for his sixth victory in eight starts.

Alberto Callaspo drove in an unearned run for the Angels, who committed four errors and dropped 3½ games behind Texas in the AL West standings. The loss was just the Angels’ second at home since Aug. 17.

The Rangers pounded Tampa Bay 8-0 earlier Tuesday. Los Angeles was a season-high 13 games over .500 after Monday’s win over the Mariners, but still faces an uphill climb in the regular season’s final three weeks to make the playoffs for the seventh time in 10 seasons.

Hernandez improbably hadn’t won in Anaheim since June 11, 2006 — also his first career complete game. He has just six victories in 25 career starts against the Mariners’ division rivals, but after failing to beat the Angels at all since Sept. 29, 2009, Hernandez has two wins over Los Angeles in seven days.

On Aug. 31 in Seattle, Hernandez finally beat the Angels for the first time in nine tries, pitching a five-hitter and getting a 2-1 win on a fortunate two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning by Mike Carp. He was nearly as sharp in Anaheim, striking out seven and giving up two walks.

Santana (11-10) yielded seven hits and two walks over six muddled innings in his 200th career start for the Angels, losing for just the second time in 13 starts. Although he didn’t give up an earned run, he allowed a baserunner in every inning, and his usually sure-handed teammates weren’t much help.

Seattle loaded the bases with nobody out in the second inning after two Los Angeles errors, but managed just one run on Trayvon Robinson’s sacrifice fly. Seager then reached on an error in the fourth inning and eventually scored on Michael Saunders’ grounder.

Los Angeles scored in the sixth when Torii Hunter singled, advanced on Hernandez’s throwing error and scored on Callaspo’s single off the second-base bag.

After Hernandez retired the final seven batters he faced, Brandon League pitched the ninth for his 33rd save in 38 chances.

NOTES: Los Angeles failed to homer for just the fourth time in its last 28 games. … Hernandez made his 202nd career start, tying Kelvim Escobar for fifth-most in major league history by a Venezuelan pitcher. Freddy Garcia holds the record with 324 starts. … RF Hunter made a sprinting catch at his shoetops, followed by a barrel roll, to strand two Seattle runners in the fifth inning. Hunter won nine Gold Gloves in center field before yielding the position to Peter Bourjos this season. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle’s 10-time Gold Glover in right field, then followed up Hunter’s grab with a leaping catch near the wall on Vernon Wells’ liner moments later. … Angels 2B Howie Kendrick and OF Mike Trout got a day off from the starting lineup, but both appeared in the game.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Jered Weaver pitched seven innings of four-hit ball in his first start since signing an $85 million contract extension, and Erick Aybar drove in three runs in the Los Angeles Angels’ sixth straight victory, 8-0 over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night.

Torii Hunter homered for the Angels, and Jeff Mathis had a two-run double during a three-run second inning in a dominant finale to their nine-game homestand. Los Angeles’ second straight series sweep and Texas’ 13-2 loss to Boston trimmed the Angels’ deficit in the AL West to just 2{ games before they head into a weekend series at Rangers Ballpark on Friday.

Zach Stewart (1-3) allowed seven hits and seven runs while pitching into the seventh inning for Chicago, which missed a chance to move into second place in the AL Central for the second straight day.

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

By Eric Stephen

– Managing Editor

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Aug 24, 2011 – Newly minted $85 million man Jered Weaver will make his first start since singing his five-year contract extension as the Los Angeles Angels battle the Chicago White Sox Wednesday night. In the finale of a brief two-game series in Anaheim, the Angels are trying for their sixth straight win.

Weaver is 14-6 with a league-leading 2.10 ERA on the season, and he has allowed just three runs total in his last five home starts. In those five starts, Weaver has averaged eight innings per start and has seven walks and 33 strikeouts in 40 innings. Weaver is 6-1 with a 1.49 ERA in 11 starts at Angel Stadium this season.

Now that the contract is signed, Weaver can focus on the field, which suits him just fine. “There comes a point in time when you do have to deal with the business side of things, but I don’t think money had anything to do with my decision,” Weaver said during Tuesday’s press conference. “I could have gotten more, whatever, who cares? I’m here, and that’s all I care about.”

Zach Stewart, who was acquired from Toronto in the three-way trade involving Colby Rasmus, Edwin Jackson and others, gets the start for the White Sox. The rookie Stewart is 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA on the season, including 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA in his four games, including two starts, with Chicago.

Wednesday night’s 7:05 p.m. PDT game will be televised by Fox Sports West and ESPN2. For more news and information on the Angels, be sure to read Halos Heaven.

Read More: Edwin Jackson (P – STL), Jered Weaver (P – ANA), Colby Rasmus (CF – TOR), Zach Stewart (P – CWS), Los Angeles Angels, Chicago White Sox, Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels, Aug 24, 2011 7:05 PM PDT

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“I’m trying to have playoff at-bats. That’s the only way I know how to play,” Hunter said. “This is a push. In the last two months, I’m trying to push and get to the playoffs. Hopefully, the guys are trying to follow my lead, but I’m not trying to be a leader. I’m just trying to lead by example and play hard. My body’s feeling good and my legs are feeling good.”

Dan Haren (13-6) earned his seventh victory in his last eight decisions for the Angels, who beat Texas 2-1 on Thursday night to prevent a four-game sweep by the AL West-leading Rangers. Los Angeles remained six games out of first place.

“We battled them, but those guys are smoking hot,” Hunter said. “They may be the best team in baseball for the last two months, and we caught them at the wrong time.”

Haren surpassed his combined victory total of last year with the Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks. The three-time All-Star allowed three runs and nine hits over seven innings, struck out eight and walked none after getting staked to an early 5-0 lead.

“I actually had good stuff, but I just fell behind in the count a few too many times,” Haren said. “I gave up a few hits, but the most part, I pitched out of major damage. I attacked the strike zone and didn’t walk anybody, so that’s the big thing. Big rallies get started a lot of times with walks, so I’ve been able to minimize that this year.”

The Orioles started chipping away in the third with a two-out RBI single by Matt Wieters that Trout trapped on a diving attempt in short right field. Adam Jones narrowed the gap to 5-3 with sacrifice flies in the fifth and seventh innings.

But Hunter responded in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run homer off reliever Willie Eyre, giving him 17 for the season and capping his 16th career multihomer game.

“I just closed my eyes and swung, man. I was lucky. If I went to the casino now, I’d win,” Hunter said.

Scott Downs, who hasn’t given up an earned run at Angel Stadium all season, escaped his own bases-loaded jam in the eighth by striking out Josh Bell and retiring J.J. Hardy on a flyball. Hardy has gone six games and 28 at-bats without driving in a run — after an eight-game RBI streak in which he had 13 and homered five times.

“J.J. will be the first to tell you he’s struggling a little bit, but he’s the kind of guy who gets right back on the bike,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “I think he needed a day off yesterday, but he came back out today and had some good at-bats for us.”

Trout, who was recalled from Double-A Arkansas on Friday, ended the scoring with a solo homer in the eighth off former Angels reliever Kevin Gregg. The right-hander is with his fourth team in five seasons since the Angels traded him to the Florida Marlins in December 2006.

Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia wasn’t present to see how well his
lineup changes worked in the series opener against the Minnesota Twins.

Judged on Scott Baker’s(notes) past woes in Anaheim, Scioscia may like what he sees
regardless of what he does to his lineup.

Baker is winless in seven career starts at Angel Stadium, although he’s been
pitching well lately for the Twins heading into Wednesday night’s contest.

Scioscia sat out Tuesday’s 5-1 victory to start this three-game set as he
served an automatic one-game suspension from Major League Baseball as a result
of ace Jered Weaver’s(notes) actions Sunday in Detroit.

With left-hander Brian Duensing(notes) starting Tuesday for Minnesota (50-59),
Scioscia moved designated hitter Bobby Abreu(notes) up to No. 2 in the lineup with
Torii Hunter(notes) dropping to third while RBI leader Mark Trumbo(notes) moved up one spot to
bat sixth.

“Against the lefties we might move Trumbo up and get him connected with the
other guys a little bit,” Scioscia told the Angels’ official website. “Against
righties, we’re going to flip-flop some things and try to find a little
continuity that way.”

Hunter and Trumbo both homered to support Ervin Santana’s(notes) eight-hitter as
Los Angeles (60-50) won its third straight at home and moved within one game of
AL West-leading Texas.

Trumbo’s 20th homer made him the sixth rookie in Angels history to reach
that figure and the first since Tim Salmon, who set a club record for rookies
with 31 in 1993.

The Angels should be confident against Baker (8-6, 2.86 ERA), who is 0-5
with a 6.10 ERA on the road against them. Baker, however, has thrown 14 straight
scoreless innings against Los Angeles, including seven in a 6-5 home loss May
27.

That’s the kind of form the Twins have seen over the last eight starts from
the veteran right-hander, who is 6-2 with a 1.64 ERA in that span. His
three-game win streak ended last Thursday as he allowed two runs over seven
innings in a 4-1 loss at Texas.

Baker was pulled after 97 pitches in his second start since returning from
the disabled list because of a right flexor strain.

“You’re at that threshold,” he said. “To throw any more, I don’t know if
that would have been beneficial. You know yourself well enough to know your
limits.”

Hunter, Abreu and Trumbo are a combined 4 for 26 with no homers against
Baker.

The Twins have also fared well against Joel Pineiro(notes) (5-5, 4.91), who will
start Wednesday for the Angels. Pineiro is 2-7 with a 4.42 ERA in 15 career
starts against the Twins, never winning a home start against them in seven
outings with three different teams (0-5, 5.15).

Joe Mauer(notes), hitting .371 over his last 24 games, is 14 for 20 with six
extra-base hits against Pineiro.

The Angels have won the last four home starts by Pineiro, who is 0-2 with a
15.00 ERA in his last three overall. He surrendered six runs over 3 1-3 innings
in Thursday’s 12-7 win at Detroit.

“I’ve got to get back to getting the ball down,” Pineiro said.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The struggling Los Angeles Angels activated outfielder Vernon Wells from the 15-day disabled list before Tuesday night’s game with the Tampa Bay Rays, hoping four weeks off can ignite Wells’ bat and lift them from their offensive doldrums.

Wells had been on the DL since May 10 with a strained groin.

The Angels have scored three runs or fewer in six straight games and 17 of their last 30. Wells was batting .183 with 30 strikeouts in 35 games before the injury in his first season with the Angels. The Angels went 9-16 in Wells’ absence and slipped 6½ games in the standings.

“No matter what the numbers have been, I think I can bring some things to this team that can help us moving forward,” Wells said. “Yeah, it’s part of my job and it’s part of a lot of guys’ jobs to be a spark plug in different areas. There are different facets to this game. I’m looking forward to it.”

Wells, baseball’s second highest-paid player, played just two minor league rehab games before Tuesday’s move. He was batting seventh and playing center field Tuesday night at Angel Stadium, though his primary position will remain left.

The three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner was acquired from Toronto during the winter with four years and $86 million remaining on a $126 million, seven-year contract he signed with the Blue Jays.

The Angels had been struggling to deal with the absence of both Wells and Howie Kendrick, their leading hitter this season. Since Kendrick came back from a strained hamstring on Saturday he has gone 0-for-10.

The Angels don’t expect Wells to singlehandedly lift them from their hitting funk, but they feel his veteran presence will improve their lineup eventually.

“You’re definitely seeing a guy who’s been out for about a month. No matter what you do in the minor leagues or in batting practice to get re-acclimated to major league pitching might take a couple games,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “Not that he’s not going to square some balls up and hit them hard.”

The Angels optioned utility man Alexi Amarista to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room on the roster for Wells.

Mark Saxon covers the Angels for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Follow Mark Saxon on Twitter: @markasaxon