Seattle @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 6, 2010 ) LA Angels 9, Seattle 4

Second place is a position the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have not been used to in recent years.

The Angels have won three consecutive AL West titles, but they will begin the second half of the season 4 1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West race. That is their largest deficit since 2003 when they were 8 1/2 games out of first at the All-Star break.

Angels GM Tony Reagins said the team is very much in the thick of the race and he has no intention of giving up yet. One thing it seems the Angels are not ready to do is add a player just for the final 2 1/2 months of the season.

Los Angeles (47-44) begins the second half of the season Thursday night with a four-game home series against the Seattle Mariners (35-53).

Los Angeles just hosted the All-Star Game and now it might need an All-Star effort to win the division for the fourth year in a row.

The Angels were considered one of the favorites in the AL West despite losing Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey and Chone Figgins in the offseason.

Los Angeles has been inconsistent and also lost its top hitter, Kendry Morales, when he broke his left leg in a freakish play jumping on home plate celebrating a walkoff home run in late May. Morales is out for the season after undergoing surgery.

The Mariners also expected to challenge for the division title but have shown very little offense and are last in the AL West, 15 games behind Texas, and last in the AL in runs at 298. Fully out of the race, the Mariners traded left-hander Cliff Lee, third in the AL in ERA, to the Rangers for Justin Smoak. The addition of Lee makes the Angels’ task even tougher.

Neither the Angels nor the Mariners entered the break on an upswing. The Angels have lost eight of their last 10 and the Mariners have lost nine of 11.

The Angels have won five in a row over the Mariners and seven of nine this season.

Los Angeles will begin its climb Thursday by throwing former Mariner Joel Pineiro (9-6, 3.95 ERA) against right-hander Doug Fister (3-4, 3.09).

Pineiro had won six straight starts before a no-decision Friday in the Angels’ 6-5 10-inning victory against Oakland. Pineiro is 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA against the Mariners.

Fister allowed one run in six innings of a 7-3 loss to Kansas City on July 7. Fister is 1-0 with a 2.51 ERA in two starts against the Angels.