"Thank you Nick for giving us hope. For showing us that big dreams can come true. You were a true hometown hero. We miss you and you will never be forgotten."
The Angels could finally breathe a sigh of relief Thursday night when Roy Corcoran, one of Seattle's primary setup men, replaced starter Chris Jakubauskas in the sixth inning with the Mariners ahead by a run.
That was just the impetus the Angels needed to reel off four straight singles during a five-run rally that propelled them to a 5-1 victory in Safeco Field, ending Seattle's six-game win streak.
Jakubauskas is a 29-year-old right-hander who was making his first big league start, and if you know your recent Angels history, you know how they struggle against pitchers they haven't seen before.
Five starters made their big league debuts against the Angels in 2008 -- Baltimore's Chris Waters, Texas' Matt Harrison, Atlanta's Charlie Morton, Boston's Justin Masterson and the New York Yankees' Alfredo Aceves.
The group combined to go 4-0 with a 1.85 earned-run average in those games.
Jakubauskas, who played at La Verne Damien High and Citrus College, seemed poised to be the latest unknown to beat the Angels when he blanked a Vladimir Guerrero-less lineup on three hits through five innings and took a 1-0 lead into the sixth.
But singles by Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu put runners on first and third with one out, and Seattle Manager Don Wakamatsu went to his bullpen for Corcoran.
Figgins was thrown out at home on Torii Hunter's fielder's-choice grounder, but Kendry Morales walked to load the bases, and Mike Napoli stroked an 0-and-2 pitch into center field for a two-run single.
Gary Matthews Jr., Juan Rivera and Maicer Izturis followed with RBI singles, the final hit coming off Mark Lowe, and the Angels took a 5-1 lead.
That was more than enough offense for Angels left-hander Joe Saunders, who gave up one run and three hits in seven innings to improve to 2-1 on a day that Nick Adenhart, the 22-year-old Angels pitcher who was killed in a traffic accident on April 9, was buried in Maryland.
"It was a tough night for me and the organization because we laid to rest Nick, and I couldn't be there," said Saunders, a former Virginia Tech standout. "But my mom was able to go to the service, and that was special for me and my family.
