"Thought that goal by Dougie kind of made everybody relax

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- From the on-deck circle, Justin Smoak couldnt blame the Angels for walking Robinson Cano to load the bases in the third inning. When Smoak cleared those bases with a powerful double, he demonstrated why the new-look Seattle Mariners are a whole lot more than their new $240 million man. Brad Miller hit two homers, Erasmo Ramirez pitched seven innings of six-hit ball, and the Mariners beat Los Angeles 8-3 Tuesday night for their second win of the season. Abraham Almonte and Dustin Ackley also had RBI doubles as the Mariners followed up their 10-3 win on opening day with another surprising offensive barrage. They only needed a supporting role from Cano, who went 1 for 3 with two walks. "No doubt. Why wouldnt you?" Smoak said of the Angels strategy in pitching around Cano. "Theres a reason why you do it, but were all going to have to get big hits with guys on base this season." So far, its happening all the time: The Mariners scored 16 runs in their first 15 innings of the year while beating Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson, their AL West rivals two best starters. Miller provided an unexpected power burst with a solo homer in the fifth and a two-run shot in the ninth, while Smoak has six RBIs in the Mariners first two games. "We just wanted to show them weve got some hitters," said Miller, who has four multihomer games -- but just 10 total homers -- in his career. "Weve got some depth. Starting on the road against two pretty good pitchers and a good lineup, getting two wins like that is a pretty great way to start a season." Ramirez (1-0) backed up his solid spring training with impressive work against the Angels star-studded lineup, striking out six without walking a batter. He retired 11 straight after squelching the Angels rally in the fourth inning. Wilson (0-1) laboured into the sixth inning for the Angels, who are off to their first 0-2 start since 2001. Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer and Josh Hamilton had two hits for the Angels, who spent the entire spring determined to avoid yet another slow start, a prime reason for Los Angeles four-year post-season absence. "Theres a lot of things we need to do better," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Were a better team than showed up the last couple of games. Were getting some guys on base, and our situational hitting was great all spring. We just have to do a little bit better job of it." Los Angeles went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, dropping to 1 for 13 in the young season. Wilson, who had a career-best 17 wins last season for the Angels, needed 95 pitches to get through the first five innings against Seattle. He gave up eight hits and had eight strikeouts, including the 1,000th of his career. "Ive got a lot of confidence in our offence," Wilson said. "Thats the mentality you have to have with the guys we have. If you dont score and you give up a run early, everybody seems to press a little bit. If youre not winning, youre not having a good time." Ibanez has struck out five times already this season, but he trimmed his former teams lead with his first homer for the Angels in the fourth. Ackley chased Wilson on his 114th pitch, drilling a double off the right-field wall in the sixth. Albert Pujols doubled in the eighth and scored on Canos two-out throwing error, but Joe Beimel relieved Tom Wilhelmsen and picked David Freese off first base, ending the inning before throwing a pitch. Freese got his first hit for the Angels in the second inning, but is off to a 1-for-8 start. Mike Trout went 0 for 3 and was hit by a pitch on his bobblehead night. Seattle closer Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth in the former Angels relievers first appearance for his new team. NOTES: Seattle OF Stefen Romero went 0 for 4 in his major league debut. ... Angels relievers Dane De La Rosa and Sean Burnett will throw a simulated game in Anaheim on Wednesday before deciding the next step in their recovery from injuries. ... In just his fifth season as a starting pitcher, Wilson fanned Kyle Seager for his 1,000th career strikeout. The former Texas reliever is the 41st active player to reach the milestone. ... Mariners DH Corey Hart got his first hit for his new club, an infield single in the sixth. Mookie Betts Jersey . The roster changes have been constant and continuous since late last year, but even with their 46-man roster set for the start of the season, the banged-up Bombers will be kicking off Week 1 with a handful of fresh faces and back-ups in the starting lineup. Custom Boston Red Sox Jersey . However, Therrien added that Galchenyuks status for next Wednesdays game against the Detroit Red Wings is questionable. Galchenyuk has been out since Jan. 6 with a broken right hand. http://www.officialredsoxfanstore.com/authentic-dustin-pedroia-red-sox-jersey/ .C. United to a 4-1 victory over short-handed FC Dallas on Saturday night. Wade Boggs Jersey . The 30-year-old Texas native was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 20th round of the 2001 amateur draft. Duke spent six years in Pittsburgh and also had stints with Arizona, Washington and Cincinnati. Pablo Sandoval Jersey . The move is retroactive to Aug. 1. Hosmer was originally hit on the hand in the first inning of a July 20 loss to Boston. He has played most of the time since, but missed a few contests due to the injury, then departed Thursdays win over the Twins and had tests that revealed the fracture.MONTREAL -- If his chin can get through the first few rounds, Lucian Bute has a chance to re-establish his reputation as world class boxer. If he doesnt blow himself out early trying to test that chin, Jean Pascal stands to claim one of the biggest wins of his career. Thats how the scene is set for what promoters are calling the biggest match ever between two Canadian fighters. Bute (31-1) will face Pascal (28-2-1) in the main event Saturday night before more than 20,000 Bell Centre spectators, with a much larger audience watching on the U.S. specialty channel HBO. If the few hundred who turned up for Fridays weigh-in are an indication, those who chant Butes name will drown out fans of the flashy, outspoken Pascal, but all that really counts is what happens in the ring. The 12-round fight is officially for the minor NABF light heavyweight title and a meaningless trinket called the WBC Diamond belt, but much more is at stake for the two former world champions from Montreal whose careers have been mostly idling the last two years. "I feel very good, very confident," Bute, a natural super-middleweight, said after easily making weight at 173.6 points. "My future is in play. "Its the most important fight of my career so far." Pascal was a little over on his first attempt, then took off his tuque and came in right on the 175-pound limit. He put tape over his mouth to avoid saying anything to Bute or the media. The 33-year-old Bute has much to prove. The Romanian-born fighter who moved to Montreal to turn pro in 2003 was often criticized for always fighting in his adopted home and avoiding tough opponents while he held the IBF super-middleweight (168-pound) title from 2007 to 2012. And when he finally left Montreal to defend for the 10th time against power-punching Carl Froch in England, he was destroyed in five rounds, wobbling around with his face a bloody mess as the referee stopped the bout. He was hardly convincing in a close 12-round decision win over Denis Grachev in his only bout since then in November, 2012, although he came away with the NABF title. The question now is whether hell hold up if Pascal connects with an early power punch. "Youll see Saturday night if I have a chin or not, but Im very confident," he said. "In England with Carl Froch, I got a hit a lot and I never went down. I never took a knee and I dont plan to this time either." The Bute-Pascal showdown was originally scheduled for May 25, but was postponed when Bute injured a hand. After surgery to remove bone chips, he feels his hands are in their best shape in years. The 31-year-old Pascal lost a close decision to Froch in England in 2008. Shortly after, he moved up one weight class and beat another Romania native based in Montreal, Adrian Diaconu, for the WBC light heavyweight title. He defended it four times, but hit a wall in a pair of bouts with the wily Bernard Hopkins, who was in his mid-forties. Hopkins slipped and dodged punches and let Pascal wear himself trying to land hhaymakers and then took over in the late rounds.dddddddddddd Their first meeting in 2010 was a draw, and Hopkins got the win and the title by unanimous decision a year later. Pascal has only fought twice since then, both against B-level opponents. He has since sought outside help in the form of boyhood idol Roy Jones Jr. to take his game to another level. They held camp at altitude at the Big Bear resort in California. Bute usually holds training camps in Florida, but stayed in Montreal for this one. While Bute and Pascal waited for their showdown, another Montreal fighter, Adonis Stevenson, jumped to the front of the queue by taking the WBC belt. Stevensons Detroit-based trainer Sugar Hill will be an interested spectator .The winner will become mandatory challenger for the title, although that fight likely wont happen until early 2015. He called the fight a toss-up, and said it should become clear in the first round who will win. "The only question I have is about Bute in a big fight after the Carl Froch fight," said Hill, the nephew of legendary trainer Emanuel Steward. "How he handles that will decide the outcome of the fight and that will be decided in the first round. "I have it in Butes favour if the fight goes longer." The southpaw Bute is the more technically sound of the two and his left uppercut can be deadly. Pascal answers with a brawling style, with plenty of speed and athleticism. Butes trainer Stephan Larouche likes how his fighter has not shown any signs of nervousness or doubt leading into the bout. Of course, he feels Bute will win. "Hes got better abilities and he can adjust the distance way better than Jean Pascal," said Larouche. If the fight goes the distance there will almost certainly be calls for a rematch, although Butes promoter Jean Bedard said he may prefer a rematch with Froch first if he wins. A loss would be crushing for Pascals pride, but he would likely remain in demand because his bouts are always entertaining. Peter Nelson of HBO said airing it on their first boxing show of the year was an easy decision. "These are two elite fighters with a lot at stake, with careers on the line in a certain respect," he said. "Its a great fight in terms of the environment here and the division theyre in. "Weve seen Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev emerge in the same division, so its a hot division with a lot of depth. We think the winner of this fight can emerge in a serious way to be a real player in our long term plans for the network." The co-feature has a 10-round heavyweight clash between Cuban Mike Perez (20-0) and Carlos Takam (28-1) of France. Perez weighed 231.2 while Takam was 256.2. Notes: Promoter Yvon Michel said Stevenson plans to fight three times in 2014. He gave few details other than that the first one will not be against fellow knockout artist Kovalev.. . . Larouche said Butes move to light heavy is not necessarily permanent and he can still make weight at super-middleweight. ' ' '