Jered Weaver hurls seven shutout innings in MLB debut

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- When Jeff Weaver made his major league

debut for Detroit in 1999, his kid brother Jered was in the stands

with their parents to witness it.

Elias Says

Los Angeles Angels
Jered Weaver was the Angels' starting pitcher against Baltimore on Saturday. His brother, Jeff, has already made 10 starts for the Angels this season. The Weavers are the 18th pair of brothers to each start a game as a pitcher for the same team in the same season. The other recent pairs: Andy and Alan Benes for the Cardinals (1996, 1997, 2001); Pedro and Ramon Martinez for the Dodgers (1992 and 1993) and Red Sox (1999 and 2000); Phil and Joe Niekro for the Braves (1974) and Yankees (1985); Rick and Paul Reuschel for the Cubs (1976); Gaylord and Jim Perry for the Indians (1974 and 1975).

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The tables were turned on Saturday night, with Jeff watching

from the dugout and Jered pitching the Los Angeles Angels to a 10-1

victory over Baltimore with seven shutout innings. Now the younger

Weaver has something tangible to put among the family's baseball

heirlooms besides his Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur player

of 2004.

"My mom and dad will be getting the ball," Jered said. "We've

got a big trophy case back home with a bunch of balls in it from

what Jeff's accomplished. Hopefully, this is one of many to go in

the collection."

The 23-year-old right-hander gave up three hits, walked one and

struck out five for the Angels, who won their season-high fourth

straight game. He threw 64 of his 97 pitches for strikes and held

Baltimore to one hit after the second inning -- a bloop single by

Melvin Mora.

"I was so amped up, I didn't even know what my pitch count

ended up being," said Weaver, whose highest pitch count in his

nine starts at Triple-A this season was 111 last Monday. "I

definitely would have finished it up if they had let me."

Manager Mike Scioscia liked what he saw.

"For a youngster to come up and pitch that kind of game is big

in a number of aspects," Scioscia said. "We've been looking at

Jered for a while now. He jumped up on our depth chart in spring

training, and it's great to see a product of our minor league

system come up and do well up here. And it's not just Jered, it's

other guys, too."

Kendry Morales, one of five Angels to make his major league

debut this month alone, was 3-for-5 with a three-run homer. Tommy

Murphy hit his first career homer, a solo shot in the eighth.

Tim Salmon added a two-run shot for the Angels, Garret Anderson

drove in two runs and right fielder Vladimir Guerrero threw out a

runner at the plate, one night after helping beat the Orioles with

his first career inside-the-park home run.

Anderson played in his 1,662nd regular-season game with the

Angels, breaking Brian Downing's franchise record.

"The individual accomplishments are great and all that, but I

haven't taken the time to dwell on that too much -- other than the

fact that I've done it," Anderson said. "It's a team sport, and

that's a direction you always have to come from just to stay

grounded. If I never played another game after today, I could

probably give a better answer. But since I'm still playing, it's

kind of hard to because the job's not done yet."

The Weavers became the first pair of brothers to pitch for the

Angels in their 46-year history, and the first pair to pitch for

the same club since Andy and Alan Benes with St. Louis in 2001.

"Jeff gave me some advice at the beginning of the game and

everything worked out," Jered said. "There were some things that

he threw out there about not leaving my slider up in situations

where they know it's coming. I took that advice, and towards the

fourth inning on, I was expanding the plate with my slider and it

helped."

The Orioles were baffled throughout by Weaver's delivery.

"When you face a guy who hides the ball like he does, it takes

a couple of at-bats to try to find his release point," Jeff Conine

said. "Obviously, the more you face a guy, the more you can

prepare."

Weaver, who was born in Northridge, Calif., played his college

ball at nearby Long Beach State. He was 37-9 with a 2.43 ERA and a

school-record 431 strikeouts in three seasons with the 49ers.

The Angels made him the 12th overall pick in the June 2004

draft, but he and agent Scott Boras held out until June 4, 2005,

when the team signed him to a minor league contract with a

club-record signing bonus of $4 million -- the largest the team had

ever given to a draft pick. Had a deal not been reached at that

time, Weaver would have re-entered the draft.

"There's nothing wrong with a little sibbling rivalry. And just

having that support I think is going to benefit both of us," Jeff

Weaver said.

Erik Bedard (5-4) allowed six runs and 10 hits in 3 2-3 innings,

after giving up eight runs in five innings last Monday in an 8-6

loss at Seattle. The left-hander is 1-4 with a 7.86 ERA in seven

starts after winning first four outings.

"It's frustrating. Just look at the numbers," Bedard said.

"It's hard to swallow, but you've just got to keep grinding and

work your way out of it. I guess I have to improve my location and

throw more strikes."Game notes
Jeff Weaver had a solid outing in his first big league

game, on April 14, 1999, against the Minnesota Twins at Detroit. He

struck out his first batter, Torii Hunter, and pitched five

scoreless innings in a 7-1 victory. The only hit he allowed was a

fifth-inning single by Ron Coomer. ... The Orioles have lost 15 of

their last 19 road games, and have scored just eight runs in a

four-game span since getting nine runs in the ninth inning of

Tuesday's 14-4 win at Seattle.