Hisashi Iwakuma and the Mariners complete a 3-game sweep of the Angels

SEATTLE — Hisashi Iwakuma kept his pitches down and the ball in the ballpark. Most of the time.

Iwakuma (8-4) allowed a solo home run to Mark Trumbo, but kept the Angels to three runs over seven innings as Seattle completed its first sweep of the season by beating the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 Sunday.

It was an improvement on a lousy month by the Mariners All-Star, who had allowed at least four runs in each of his previous five starts and 10 home runs over his last four outings.

“He was good. Just a couple bad misses but he was downhill better. He executed pitches better,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said.

Following his previous outing — his shortest of the season allowing six runs in three innings against Boston — Iwakuma noted some minor mechanical adjustments he needed to fix to get back on track. Against the Angels, Iwakuma had a better feel for his fastball and was able to mix in his breaking pitches more effectively.

He struck out seven for his first win since June 10.

“Today, overall, I thought I had a better fastball. I had more life with my fastball,” Iwakuma said through a translator. “I was able to make an adjustment. I gave up one home run but then overall I thought I had better command than I did the last couple of starts.”

via Hisashi Iwakuma and the Mariners complete a 3-game sweep of the Angels | OregonLive.com.