ANGELS, SALMON HAVE GRAND TIME ANGELS 11, CHICAGO 2.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

CHICAGO - After a gut-wrenching stretch of 20 consecutive games against contenders, the Angels are enjoying a nice, deep breath of Central air.

Tuesday night, they continued their dominance of American League Central teams, riding a grand slam from Tim Salmon and a good-enough outing from budding ace Jarrod Washburn to thump the Chicago White Sox 11-2 in front of a crowd of 17,706 at Comiskey Park.

To be sure, the Angels were due for a laugher. Entering Tuesday's game, four of their past five victories (and six of their past 10) came by one run. Since a 15-3 pasting of Seattle on July 19, 13 of their next 16 games were decided by four runs or less, so even when the Angels lost, their bullpen was called upon to pitch what manager Mike Scioscia likes to call ``impact innings.''

Tuesday, the only impact being made was the Angels' bats on Chicago's pitching.

Anaheim (67-45) pounded out 17 hits and had a 10-0 lead by the fifth inning, getting single runs in the first three innings and four in the fourth. The Angels pulled within 1 1/2 games of Seattle in the AL West and pushed their wild-card lead over Boston to 1 1/2 games.

The beneficiary of their offensive largess was Washburn (14-3), who became the club's first 14-game winner since Chuck Finley won 15 in 1996.

Washburn was effective, if not efficient, needing 115 pitches to complete six innings of six-hit ball. The only blemish was a two-run homer by Magglio Ordonez in the sixth. Al Levine followed with three scoreless innings for his fifth save. The blowout enabled the rest of the bullpen to rest and it also enabled regulars Salmon, Garret Anderson and shortstop David Eckstein to take a few innings off.

Such relief was long overdue, Salmon said.

`We've been grinding out our wins lately, so it was nice to get this one tonight,'' said Salmon, who drove in five runs, four on his fifth career grand slam. ``(Washburn) was the bigger story. Once we got three runs, that was enough. You give him enough runs and he's tough to beat.''

Salmon said Washburn gives the team a similar air of confidence that Finley did back in the day, the feeling that no matter the circumstances, he would emerge with a victory.

Tuesday, the winnin' was easy.

Eight Angels starters had at least one hit, all reached base and all either scored or drove in a run. Darin Erstad, who came in hitting less than .280 for the first time since May 12, had three hits and Brad Fullmer homered for the fourth time in as many starts.

All that helped the Angels improve to 6-1 against the White Sox and 25-12 against AL Central teams. The four teams other than first-place Minnesota are a combined 76 games below .500, and the Angels have treated them accordingly; they are 21-7 against Kansas City, Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland.

While Monday's 6-3 victory over the 41-71 Tigers had a shred of drama, Tuesday's game was what one would expect when a contending team meets an opponent playing out the string.

``Anytime you can throw up a picket fence early (single runs in three innings) and then drop a big number on 'em, it's nice,'' Washburn said. ``I just wish I could throw more strikes. My confidence level is high, but it's a tribute to everybody in this room. A lot of great plays were made behind me.''

Washburn has won twice in August, significant because he traditionally has struggled down the stretch. Ask anyone in the clubhouse the one thing separating Washburn from full-fledged ace status, and it's the same answer - wait until he does it for 33 or 34 starts.

Now, Washburn has 23 starts behind him and he seems to be getting stronger. Washburn has given up two earned runs or less in four of his six starts since the All-Star break.

He attributes that to offseason work with a physical therapist and because he didn't lose 12 pounds after a nasty case of strep throat during spring training, as he did in 2001.

Meanwhile, the White Sox (53-61) threw promising right-hander Dan Wright (7-10) at the Angels, which should have been cause for celebration in Anaheim's clubhouse. Wright gave up eight runs in 2 2/3 innings of a 19-0 loss at Edison Field on May 10. Salmon had four hits that night, and Tuesday wasn't much different.

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

The Angels' Brad Fullmer follows through on his solo home run in the second inning Tuesday at Comiskey Park.

Brian Kersey/Associated Press

Box:

(1) AL WEST

(2) AL WILDCARD