ANDERSON BLAST SINKS MARINERS ANGELS 4, SEATTLE 3.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Garret Anderson's bat had been quiet for the first nine games of the season.

That changed with one swing Friday night when Anderson's first homer of the season in the bottom of the ninth inning turned a one-run deficit into a 4-3 win in front of 31,087 at Edison Field.

Mariners closer Kazuhiro Sasaki had been perfect in five save opportunities until Friday, but gave up a single to Troy Glaus before Anderson's home runwon it.

The game had a distinct Japanese flavor to it.

Besides Sasaki, Angels pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa and Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki played big roles in the game. Hasegawa (1-0) got the win.

Suzuki went 1 for 5, his only hit an infield single off Hasegawa, his former teammate with the Orix Blue Wave. It marked the first time two Japanese-born players faced each other in major-league history.

Suzuki made the defensive play of the game in the bottom of the eighth. With pinch-runner Orlando Palmeiro on first base with one out and the Angels down, 3-2, Tim Salmon hit a ball that appeared headed for the right-center-field gap. But Suzuki, known for his speed, ran down the ball and made a leaping catch as he crashed into the fence.

Palmeiro, certain the ball would land safely, was already at third base and was doubled up easily.

Despite the loss, the Mariners lead the American League West at 7-3, one game ahead of the Angels (6-4).

Seattle pitchers Brett Tomko (five innings), Ryan Franklin (two innings) and Arthur Rhodes (one inning) combined to limit the Angels to six hits going into the fateful ninth.

Angels second baseman Adam Kennedy got one of those hits, and it was a big one. In his first at-bat of the season after recovering from a broken right hand, Kennedy hit a two-run homer in the third inning.

Angels starter Scott Schoeneweis was solid for his third start in a row, giving up three runs and eight hits in 7 2/3 innings. In all three starts, Schoeneweis has pitched into the seventh inning and not allowed more than three runs.

The Mariners went into the game with a team ERA of 3.56, second best in the league.

``You knew they would have a very solid pitching staff,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said before the game. ``That's something that will be a constant for them. And I think retooling their offense will have a positive effect for them. There an infusion of speed. A-Rod could run, but the guy now (Suzuki) is a more prototypical leadoff hitter. And they've still got Edgar Martinez in the middle of the lineup.''

Sans power, the Mariners sprayed the ball around enough in the early innings off Schoeneweis to take a lead. Martinez had an RBI double in the first and Wilson had an RBI single in the second to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.

The Angels got the runs back on Kennedy's two-run homer in the third just as Schoeneweis started pitching his game.

Schoeneweis began getting his groundballs, but a grounder by Carlos Guillen squirted inside the first-base line for a leadoff double in the fifth. Two outs later, John Olerud punched a 3-2 pitch into left field for an RBI single and a 3-2 Mariners lead.

``They probably manufacture their runs a little more than in the past,'' Scioscia said. ``They may not hit as many home runs, but they hit balls to the gaps with guys like Olerud and (Bret) Boone. Their lineup is obviously solid. In some ways it's a little more potent than last year.''

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Photo:

Angels catcher Benji Molina waits for the throw as Seattle's Mike Cameron crosses home in the first inning.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press