NO HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE FOR L.A. JEFF WEAVER STRUGGLES AGAIN AND ANGELS SUFFER HUMBLING SWEEP TO SEATTLE SEATTLE 6, ANGELS 2.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Home has all the comforts, or so the saying goes.

There is no place like it, rings another famous chorus.

It's good to be there normally is the case, except when it comes to this season's Angels.

After playing well on the recently-completed trip, the Angels returned home and were swept in a three-game series by the Seattle Mariners following Sunday's 6-2 defeat.

The Angels fell to 12-17 in their own ballpark (27-35 overall), the second-worst home record in the American League.

The fielding was poor against the Mariners, the offense didn't deliver enough and the pitching was suspect. Jeff Weaver's effort on the mound Sunday was convincing, he just couldn't field his position if a victory depended on it.

Weaver gave up just twoearned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work, but he also gave up two unearned runs that he had nobody to blame for but himself. Weaver made fielding errors on back-to-back plays in the fifth inning as the Mariners took over the game with three runs.

``I don't think I've had twoerrors in one season let alone one inning,'' Weaver said. ``It's something you just shake your head at. As unbelievable as everybody else thought it was, those are plays that should be made especially in a critical situation like that to get out of the inning.''

Before the weekend started, the Angels were feeling good about a recent revival. They had won 10 of their past 14games and five consecutive series. Just three games into this homestand, the Angels were being asked if this team merely is playing to its level.

``You're going to have a tough game here or there, but we have not brought what we need to bring on the field,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``We've seen glimpses of it and we know what it can do when it's there but it's been a struggle so far for us. If we bring our game we're confident playing teams that are at the height of their game.''

With Jered Weaver pitching well, Jeff Weaver is in jeopardy of losing his spot in the rotation when Bartolo Colon comes back as expected later this week. But Scioscia had no problems with Jeff Weaver's latest effort.

What the Angels ideally would like to see from their own staff is the kind of outing Mariners starter Felix Hernandez delivered. The 20-year old right-hander set down 17 consecutive Angels between an Orlando Cabrera run-scoring single in the first inning and a Cabrera leadoff double in the seventh. Cabrera scored the Angels' final run on consecutive fly balls by Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson.

The Angels now play host to the only team with a worse home record than they carry, the Kansas City Royals. More applicable would be the Royals' road record, which is the worst in baseball at 6-26.

Weaver gave up a home run to Jeremy Reed in the secondinning as the Mariners tied the score 1-1. Reed, a product of Bonita High School in La Verne, has hit all three of his home runs this season at Angel Stadium.

Weaver's rocky fifth inning started when Reed crushed a double to right- center. Rene Rivera followed with an infield single before trouble began.

Weaver bobbled a sacrifice bunt attempt by Yuniesky Betancourt for his first error to load the bases. Looking for an improbable double-play ball with Ichiro Suzuki at the plate, Weaver actually got one on a comebacker. But while rushing to get in position to throw, Weaver never fielded the ball.

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Angels pitcher Jeff Weaver gave up seven hits and four runs in the team's loss to Seattle.

Ric Francis/Associated Press