"Apparently Mariners left-hander Jason Vargas hasn't gotten the memo about Hideki Matsui not being able to hit left-handers anymore.

And neither did Matsui.

Nursing a one-run lead with two outs and a runner on third in the seventh inning, Vargas left an 0-and-1 fastball over the plate to Matsui and the Angels' DH drove it into the first row of the right-field seats for a two-run home run that sent the Angels on their way to a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Mariners right-fielder Ichiro Suzuki climbed the wall in pursuit of Matsui's deep fly and nearly made a spectacular catch that would have set off a media frenzy among the Japanese reporters who cover the two stars.

"Probably a few companies would have made it front page," Matsui said, his dry wit not lost in translation. "Most, probably."

Taking two out of three from the Mariners to start this road trip was newsworthy enough for the Angels. They won a series for the first time since their sweep of the Kansas City Royals August 9-11.

It wasn't headed that way for much of the night Wednesday despite the best efforts of Angels starter Trevor Bell. Coming off the best start of his budding major-league career (two runs in seven innings against the Orioles last Friday), Bell essentially matched it. He held the Mariners to two runs on nine hits through six innings.

But the Angels went into the seventh trailing 2-1, having managed just two hits off Vargas."