ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- This time, Kazuhiro Sasaki survived.
After the Seattle Mariners scored twice in the top of the ninth, Sasaki again struggled in the bottom of the inning before preserving a 7-6 victory over the Anaheim Angels.
John Olerud snapped a 5-5 tie in the ninth with a single off Angels closer Troy Percival (0-1). He scored an important insurance run on a throwing error by right fielder Eric Owens.
But Sasaki, who allowed three runs and retired just one batter in the ninth inning of Saturday's loss, made things interesting again.
The Japanese righthander gave up three hits in the ninth, including a run-scoring single to Scott Spiezio. But with two out and two on, Sasaki struck out Brad Fullmer on a full count.
"I started out a bit shaky after last night," Sasaki said through an interpreter. "When I was facing Fullmer, I was able to have positive thinking. I did my best. I'll remember this outing later, when I get into tough situations. I wanted to give everything I had today on each pitch. I was real focused."
"(Sasaki) did what he had to do to win," Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. "He's our closer and rightly so. He has quite a history. All closers have their share of struggles. He did what it took for us to win today."
Shigetoshi Hasegawa (1-0) struck out Chone Figgins with the bases loaded to end the eighth and got the win against his former team.
Percival gave up two runs and two hits in the ninth.
"Sometimes you just don't have it," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He made some terrific pitches after the first couple of pitches. He threw a lot of breaking balls today. His role is not that just of a closer. If it's tied in the ninth inning, he'll come in."
Bret Boone started the ninth for the Mariners by drilling a ball into the left-field gap that he hustled into a double. Olerud followed with an RBI single up the middle and took second on center fielder Julio Ramirez's throw to the plate.
"It's hard to hit Troy. He throws me a lot of curveballs," Boone said. "All I see is arms and legs. I was just trying to get on base."
Mike Cameron lifted a fly ball to right field and Olreud scored when Owens' throw to third base bounced away from Troy Glaus and into the stands, making it 7-5.
The Angels, who rallied from a five-run deficit Saturday, nearly came up with more dramatics in this one against Sasaki, who already has squandered three saves.
Pesky shortstop David Eckstein started the bottom of the ninth with a double and went to third on a passed ball by Dan Wilson. Spiezio followed with a single to right field, pulling the Angels within 7-6.
Ramirez popped up a bunt and Sasaki retired Garrett Anderson on a fly ball. Glaus kept alive the game with a single, but Sasaki struck out Fullmer to end it.
"I threw my splitter as hard as I could," Sasaki said. "I didn't care where it went, I just threw it as hard as I could. It was the best pitch I threw today."
The Angels also got off to a quick start, taking a 2-0 lead in the opening inning on Anderson's second homer of the season.
But Mariners starter Ryan Franklin settled down. He gave up just those two runs and six hits over seven innings, walking one and striking out two.
The Mariners got even in the third against Angels ace Jarrod Washburn. Wilson led off with his first homer of the season and Olreud plated a run with a groundout.
Boone hit a solo homer, his fifth, with one out in the fifth to give the Mariners the lead. Olreud and Randy Winn delivered run-scoring singles in the seventh and eighth, respectively, pushing the lead to 5-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Angels pulled even on an RBI single by Tim Salmon and a two-run single by Shawn Wooten that dropped just in front of Cameron in center field.
