Jered Weaver hurls seven shutout innings in MLB debut

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- When Jeff Weaver made his major league debut for Detroit in 1999, his kid brother Jered was in the stands with their parents to witness it.

Elias Says

Jered Weaver was the Angels' starting pitcher against Baltimore on Saturday. His brother, Jeff, has already made 10 starts for the Angels this season. The Weavers are the 18th pair of brothers to each start a game as a pitcher for the same team in the same season. The other recent pairs: Andy and Alan Benes for the Cardinals (1996, 1997, 2001); Pedro and Ramon Martinez for the Dodgers (1992 and 1993) and Red Sox (1999 and 2000); Phil and Joe Niekro for the Braves (1974) and Yankees (1985); Rick and Paul Reuschel for the Cubs (1976); Gaylord and Jim Perry for the Indians (1974 and 1975). • For more Elias Says, Click here

The tables were turned on Saturday night, with Jeff watching from the dugout and Jered pitching the Los Angeles Angels to a 10-1 victory over Baltimore with seven shutout innings. Now the younger Weaver has something tangible to put among the family's baseball heirlooms besides his Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur player of 2004.

"My mom and dad will be getting the ball," Jered said. "We've got a big trophy case back home with a bunch of balls in it from what Jeff's accomplished. Hopefully, this is one of many to go in the collection."

The 23-year-old right-hander gave up three hits, walked one and struck out five for the Angels, who won their season-high fourth straight game. He threw 64 of his 97 pitches for strikes and held Baltimore to one hit after the second inning -- a bloop single by Melvin Mora.

"I was so amped up, I didn't even know what my pitch count ended up being," said Weaver, whose highest pitch count in his nine starts at Triple-A this season was 111 last Monday. "I definitely would have finished it up if they had let me."

Manager Mike Scioscia liked what he saw.

"For a youngster to come up and pitch that kind of game is big in a number of aspects," Scioscia said. "We've been looking at Jered for a while now. He jumped up on our depth chart in spring training, and it's great to see a product of our minor league system come up and do well up here. And it's not just Jered, it's other guys, too."

Kendry Morales, one of five Angels to make his major league debut this month alone, was 3-for-5 with a three-run homer. Tommy Murphy hit his first career homer, a solo shot in the eighth.

Tim Salmon added a two-run shot for the Angels, Garret Anderson drove in two runs and right fielder Vladimir Guerrero threw out a runner at the plate, one night after helping beat the Orioles with his first career inside-the-park home run.

Anderson played in his 1,662nd regular-season game with the Angels, breaking Brian Downing's franchise record.

"The individual accomplishments are great and all that, but I haven't taken the time to dwell on that too much -- other than the fact that I've done it," Anderson said. "It's a team sport, and that's a direction you always have to come from just to stay grounded. If I never played another game after today, I could probably give a better answer. But since I'm still playing, it's kind of hard to because the job's not done yet."

The Weavers became the first pair of brothers to pitch for the Angels in their 46-year history, and the first pair to pitch for the same club since Andy and Alan Benes with St. Louis in 2001.

"Jeff gave me some advice at the beginning of the game and everything worked out," Jered said. "There were some things that he threw out there about not leaving my slider up in situations where they know it's coming. I took that advice, and towards the fourth inning on, I was expanding the plate with my slider and it helped."

The Orioles were baffled throughout by Weaver's delivery.

"When you face a guy who hides the ball like he does, it takes a couple of at-bats to try to find his release point," Jeff Conine said. "Obviously, the more you face a guy, the more you can prepare."

Weaver, who was born in Northridge, Calif., played his college ball at nearby Long Beach State. He was 37-9 with a 2.43 ERA and a school-record 431 strikeouts in three seasons with the 49ers.

The Angels made him the 12th overall pick in the June 2004 draft, but he and agent Scott Boras held out until June 4, 2005, when the team signed him to a minor league contract with a club-record signing bonus of $4 million -- the largest the team had ever given to a draft pick. Had a deal not been reached at that time, Weaver would have re-entered the draft.

"There's nothing wrong with a little sibbling rivalry. And just having that support I think is going to benefit both of us," Jeff Weaver said.

Erik Bedard (5-4) allowed six runs and 10 hits in 3 2-3 innings, after giving up eight runs in five innings last Monday in an 8-6 loss at Seattle. The left-hander is 1-4 with a 7.86 ERA in seven starts after winning first four outings.

"It's frustrating. Just look at the numbers," Bedard said. "It's hard to swallow, but you've just got to keep grinding and work your way out of it. I guess I have to improve my location and throw more strikes."

Game notes
Jeff Weaver had a solid outing in his first big league game, on April 14, 1999, against the Minnesota Twins at Detroit. He struck out his first batter, Torii Hunter, and pitched five scoreless innings in a 7-1 victory. The only hit he allowed was a fifth-inning single by Ron Coomer. ... The Orioles have lost 15 of their last 19 road games, and have scored just eight runs in a four-game span since getting nine runs in the ninth inning of Tuesday's 14-4 win at Seattle.