Maicer Izturis hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning, rewarding Williams for pitching eight innings in the Angels’ 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Peter Bourjos added a run-scoring single in the eighth as Los Angeles trimmed the Texas Rangers’ AL West lead to 2½ games with a dramatic rally. Williams (3-0) narrowly outdueled Seattle rookie left-hander Charlie Furbush (3-8), who held the Angels scoreless until the eighth.

Trayvon Robinson’s sixth-inning leadoff homer was the Mariners’ only hit off Williams, a journeyman who has made three strong starts for Los Angeles down the playoff stretch. Williams spared only a moment afterward to consider just how far he has traveled since reinventing himself as a deceptive four-pitch right-hander last season.

“It’s exciting to a point,” Williams said. “I can’t let all those emotions get to me when I go out there and pitch. We’re in the hunt for the playoffs, and I’ve got to focus on getting wins. … If I keep on putting up zeros, I’ll keep the guys in the hunt.”

Williams, the Hawaii native known for his puka-shell necklaces during his previous major league stops in San Francisco and Chicago, is wearing a pink glove to honor his mother, who died of breast cancer. Until the Angels signed him in June and recalled him last month, he had been out of the majors since 2007, playing in Taiwan, Puerto Rico and two independent leagues.

“When I was playing down there, I was just wondering who was going to call,” Williams said.

The Angels are grateful they were the first team on the phone. Williams, who struck out five and walked one, has filled a gaping hole in the Angels’ top-heavy rotation since Joel Pineiro and Tyler Chatwood both struggled in recent weeks.

“This guy pitched with his back against the wall all night,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “He just makes pitches. It’s a great story. He has evolved as a pitcher, and if he can keep his stuff the way it is, he’s going to pitch in the big leagues for a long time.”

All-Star closer Jordan Walden pitched a hitless ninth for his 29th save as the Angels again gained ground on the defending AL champion Rangers, who lost 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Rays earlier Wednesday.

Williams retired 15 of the Mariners’ first 16 hitters, yielding only Mike Carp’s leadoff walk in the second inning until the homer by Robinson, Williams’ minor-league teammate at Class-A Inland Empire in 2008. The Los Angeles native’s drive to right field was caught on the fly by a fan in the front row of the short porch in right field.

“He goes out there and battles,” Robinson said of Williams. “He pounds the zone and he doesn’t give up.”

ANAHEIM, Calif., Sept. 5 (UPI) — Mark Trumbo drove in three runs with a homer and a double Monday and the Los Angeles Angels tightened their divisional race with a 7-3 win over Seattle.

Trumbo’s two-run blast in the first inning followed Torii Hunter’s RBI triple and handed the Angels a quick 3-1 lead.

The Los Angeles first baseman then capped a three-run third with a run-scoring double to break the game open and propel the Angels to their third straight win.

Coupled with Texas’ loss to Tampa Bay Monday, the second-place Angels pulled to within 2 1/2 games of the American League West-leading Rangers.

Dan Haren (14-8) earned the victory despite yielding 10 hits over six innings. He limited the Mariners to three runs while walking none and fanning three.

Seattle’s Anthony Vasquez (1-2) surrendered seven runs (six earned) on six hits over 5 2/3 frames.

Brendon Ryan socked a solo homer for the Mariners, who dropped the first of a three-game series.

That might be as close as the Mariners get in this 1-0 game as they loaded the bases with two out off Dan Haren in the seventh, only to see Brendan Ryan hit a comebacker to the mound that ended the threat.

Haren gave up singles to Mike Carp and Kyle Seager in the inning, then had Alberto Callaspo commit a fielding error on a grounder to load the bags up.

8:37 p.m.: The good news is, Felix Hernandez is pitching a gem as we head on to the seventh inning. Hernandez has allowed just a run on three hits and is starting to ramp up on his strikeouts as the game heads to the latter stages.

The bad news? His team has just one hit off Dan Haren through six innings.

Angels lead 1-0.

8:14 p.m.: The pitching tonight takes a decisive step upwards, with Felix Hernandez taking on Dan Haren. Ichiro will serve as the DH tonight, meaning Casper Wells gets another start in right field.

Four innings are done here and the mound duel has lived up to expectations, with the Angels leading the M’s 1-0.

Mike Trout singled in the third inning, was bunted to second, then scored on a Howie kendrick single to left. Kyle Seager hit a one-out double in the second inning, but Haren retired the side with no further trouble.

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.