ANGELS' LOSS IS A TOTAL WASH OUT WASHBURN SIDELINED EARLY BY SPASMS; BATS QUIET VS. ASTROS HOUSTON 3, ANGELS 1.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

HOUSTON - Before Sunday's game, manager Mike Scioscia was musing about the ability of his Angels and the Oakland Athletics to overcome injuries and remain atop the American League West, noting that the task would be far more difficult if those injuries were to key starting pitchers.

About the same time Scioscia was speaking, starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn was in a training room at Minute Maid Park, receiving an anti- inflammatory injection with the hope of quieting spasms in his back and neck.

It didn't work. Washburn lasted just two innings before the coaching staff became concerned his altered mechanics were endangering his arm. The fellows swinging the bats couldn't pick up the slack, as Houston Astros starter Wade Miller wriggled out of several jams on his way to a 3-1 victory over the Angels.

One night after rocking Roger Clemens for five runs, the Angels showed that game was more aberration than awakening. On Sunday, they stranded nine baserunners in the first five innings, with Adam Kennedy the biggest offender. He grounded out with two runners on in the second, and popped out with the bases loaded in the fifth after Miller started him off with three balls.

The Angels' lone run came on an error by second baseman Jeff Kent, and they were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position. The pitching-rich A's, who lead the Angels by 1 1/2 games, come to Anaheim tonight for a four-game series. Although a return home to a park with the designated hitter might be a boost for a club that has scored three runs or less in nine of its past 14 games, the Angels' next 13 are against the stingy A's and Dodgers, and now they've fallen behind Texas into third place.

There's never a good time for an injury to a pitcher, and Washburn's bout of spasms is just the latest ailment to befall him the past two years. He suffered through shoulder, back and hip pain last year, and the spasms have bothered him this year.

They reached a crescendo Saturday morning, when he woke up and found his movement seriously limited. He figures he just slept wrong, and Scioscia said he expects Washburn to make his next scheduled start Friday at Dodger Stadium.

But it might not work out that way. Washburn acknowledged the discomfort in his back ``is up, it's down, it wanders,'' and is ``very painful,'' hardly a ringing endorsement for his physical condition. And unfortunately for the Angels, although Aaron Sele will be ready to rejoin the rotation, he's not eligible to come off the disabled list until Saturday.

If Washburn can't pitch Friday, the Angels might be forced to squeeze a spot start out of Matt Hensley, a former starter who has pitched with aplomb in tough circumstances. He replaced Washburn on Sunday and breezed through the third and fourth before yielding the first homer of the year to shortstop Eric Bruntlett in the fifth. Jose Vizcaino doubled and then scored on a Morgan Ensberg single, which came off Kevin Gregg.

Miller took care of the rest, dazzling the Angels with a fastball that was hitting 95 mph in the seventh inning and a curveball that floated, Frisbee-like, through the strike zone.

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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Photo:

The Angels' Vladimir Guerrero walks away after a game-ending strikeout Sunday in Houston.

Pat Sullivan/Associated Press