Orange County Register

ANAHEIM

Angels closer Brian Fuentes failed to retire three of the four batters he faced in the ninth inning Tuesday night, blowing a save and letting a one-run lead get away. It was the second time in Fuentes’ past four outings that Angels manager Mike Scioscia pulled him from the game in the middle of an inning.

But Scioscia made it clear that is not a vote of no-confidence in the closer who does have 39 saves in 45 chances.

“Every pitcher is searching for consistency and for the most part Brian has kept that,” Scioscia said. “There’s been a handful that have gotten away … but the lion’s share, he’s brought his good stuff into the game.”

Tonight’s lineups:

ANGELS

3B Chone Figgins

2B Maicer Izturis

RF Bobby Abreu

DH Vladimir Guerrero

CF Torii Hunter

1B Kendry Morales

LF Juan Rivera

SS Erick Aybar

C  Jeff Mathis

RHP Jered Weaver

MARINERS

RF Ichiro Suzuki

CF Franklin Gutierrez

2B Jose Lopez

DH Ken Griffey Jr.

3B Adrian Beltre

LF Bill Hall

1B Mike Carp

C  Kenji Johjima

SS Josh Wilson

RHP Ian Snell

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