Mariners pound Jered Weaver for 6 runs on 8 hits in 12-6 win over Angels

Mariners pound Weaver in 12-6 win over Angels

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Seattle Mariners pounded Jered Weaver for eight hits and six runs — five earned — over 4 1-3 innings in a 12-6 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.

Weaver, expected to be the Angels’ Opening Day starter, had his second consecutive sub-par outing. He walked five San Diego hitters in 3 1-3 innings his last time out. Against the Mariners, he walked none and struck out three.

“I was working on off-speed stuff today and a new slider I’ve been working on,” said Weaver, who went 16-8 with a 3.75 ERA in 2009. “For the most part, I just fell behind (hitters). I’m not really concerned about it. I’m just working on stuff until the season starts.”

Former Angel Chone Figgins was tough on his former teammates, going 3 for 4 with two hits off Weaver, including a run-scoring triple.

“He’s probably a little confident in there because he knows me,” Weaver said. “We wish him the best, hopefully not against us.”

Ichiro Suzuki opened the game with a single to center and scored on Figgins’ triple down the right-field line. Figgins then scored on Casey Kotchman’s single. Kotchman, another former Angel, also had three hits.

Eric Byrnes hit a three-run homer off Weaver in the third, his first of the spring.

Mariners’ left-hander Luke French made his fourth appearance and second start and allowed five hits and two earned runs over four innings. French went 3-3 with a 6.63 ERA in eight games, including seven starts, for the Mariners in 2009 after coming over in a late-July deal that sent Jarrod Washburn to Detroit.