ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Ervin Santana pitched into the ninth inning of his fourth straight phenomenal start, and Mark Trumbo homered off Felix Hernandez in the Los Angeles Angels’ 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Santana (8-8) held the Mariners to seven hits and won his duel with Hernandez (10-10), whose 12 strikeouts were one shy of his career high. Santana lost his shutout bid on Mike Carp’s one-out homer in the ninth, and manager Mike Scioscia pulled him two outs short of his third consecutive complete game.
Santana, who threw a no-hitter against Cleveland two starts ago, is 5-0 in eight starts since June 21, yielding just 17 hits and two runs in 33 2-3 innings over his last four starts. He has struggled for run support throughout the season, but the Angels provided just enough to beat Hernandez, the defending AL Cy Young winner.
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