Angels-Mariners Preview

The Los Angeles Angels look to move closer to gaining home-field advantage throughout the playoffs when they try to hand the Seattle Mariners a 13th straight loss on Tuesday at Safeco Field.

Los Angeles (97-59) has a magic number of four to ensure it will open every postseason series in Anaheim. The AL West champions have won five straight and 10 of 12 and are within two wins of matching their club record of 99 set in 2002.

The Angels are also 5-0 against the Mariners in September, and have won five straight games at Safeco. Los Angeles lost the first two meetings with Seattle in 2008, but has won 12 of the next 14 with three remaining in this series.

It's clear that the Angels aren't planning on coasting through the final week of the regular season.

"These games still have meaning," manager Mike Scioscia said. "There's some challenges to the regular season that we want to accomplish. We'll have decisions to make."

Seattle (57-99) is mired in its longest skid since a 14-game slide Sept. 2-18, 1992, and is one loss away from losing 100 games in a season for the first time since 1983.

Vladimir Guerrero recorded his 11th straight 25-homer season with a tying solo shot in the fourth inning Monday and Jeff Mathis scored the go-ahead run on an error by Mariners left fielder Raul Ibanez in the seventh. Guerrero played in his third straight game after missing six games with a sore right knee.

The Angels also got back second baseman Howie Kendrick, who was activated off the disabled list and made his first start since Aug. 27. Kendrick played three innings before leaving, and Scioscia indicated he would rest him Tuesday.

Jered Weaver (11-10, 4.16 ERA) has pitched very well down the stretch as he continues to strengthen his case to be included in Los Angeles' playoff rotation. Weaver is 1-1 with a 2.80 ERA in his last six starts, with 40 strikeouts and 13 walks in 35 1-3 innings.

The right-hander turned in another solid outing Wednesday at Oakland, yielding one run and striking out eight in six innings while failing to get a decision in a 3-2 loss.

Weaver is 6-2 with a 4.65 ERA in 10 career starts against the Mariners, including 2-1 with a 4.58 ERA in three outings this year.

Seattle's Ryan Feierabend (1-4, 7.25) seeks to avoid losing his third straight start. He was tagged for eight runs over 3 1-3 innings Thursday in a 12-0 loss at Kansas City.

The 23-year-old left-hander has posted a 7.98 ERA in losing all three career starts against the Angels -- all on the road. His lone start against Los Angeles this year was on Sept. 13 and he gave up four runs in five-plus innings in a 5-2 loss.