ANGELS' VICTORY COSTLY? WASHBURN COMPLAINS OF PAIN IN SHOULDER ANGELS 4, BOSTON 1.

Byline: Gordon Verrell Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Jarrod Washburn returned from the disabled list Monday night, hoping to shoulder some of the load on a suddenly attrition-laden Angels pitching staff.

Instead, he left in the sixth inning with a sore one, continuing an alarming trend by Angels pitchers.

But Washburn stayed around long enough to earn the win in the Angels' 4-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox before 23,078 fans at Edison Field.

Ron Gant hit two home runs and Mo Vaughn hit one as the Angels ended their season-high five-game losing streak while handing the Red Sox their third loss in a row.

Washburn is the closest thing the Angels have to an ace. The win, his fourth in a row, was his seventh of the season, tying him for the club lead. It was also the fourth time he's followed a loss with a win.

It wasn't known immediately how serious Washburn's latest injury might be. What is known the Angels can ill afford losing him again, especially now.

In little more than a week - eight days, to be precise - the Angels have one way or another lost seven pitchers.

A week ago Sunday they traded Kent Bottenfield to Philadelphia in exchange for Gant. No arguing that deal at the moment, not after Gant's two homers Monday night, his first in the American League.

The next day, reliever Al Levine was placed on the disabled list. Saturday, two more were on the DL: Troy Percival, their closer, and Seth Etherton, one of their starters.

Then came Monday. First, veteran Ken Hill, who was 5-7 with a 6.62 earned run average, was released. The immediate pain from that development was felt mostly in the wallet; the Angels still owe him nearly $2 million.

Then, Brian Cooper, who had served up 16 home runs, roughly two for every nine innings he worked, was demoted to make room on the roster for Washburn's return from the disabled list.

Some return. It lasted all of 71 pitches.

After retiring Bernard Gilkey on a grounder for the first out in the sixth inning, Washburn immediately walked to the side of the mound, holding his left arm, bringing Angels manager Mike Scioscia and trainer Ned Bergert out of the dugout.

A sore left shoulder was the reason given for Washburn's early departure. Whether that had anything to do with the strained left biceps that had him on the disabled list the past two weeks was not immediately known.

Mark Petkovsek took over and worked two scoreless innings, followed by Mike Holtz, who walked the only batter he faced. Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in and pitched out of a mini-jam in the eighth, then the ninth for his fourth save. It extended Hasegawa's scoreless streak to 24 consecutive innings.

The four Angels pitchers restricted the Red Sox to just five hits. Nomar Garciaparra, who came in with a major league-leading .394 average, was hitless in three at-bats with a walk, dropping his average to .390.

The Angels collected 10 hits, including one by Darin Erstad, ending his season-high 0-for-13 drought, and two by Tim Salmon, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games, matching his career best.

Vaughn's two-out homer in the first inning gave the Angels their quick lead. It was his 26th homer of the season but his first in 17 days, and the first he's hit against Boston since leaving the Red Sox.

Gant hit his first homer with two outs in the fourth, his first extra-base hit since coming to the Angels.

Both homers came off of Boston starter Tomo Ohka, who pitched a perfect game earlier this season in the Triple-A International League and was making only his third big league start.

The Red Sox cut the Angels' lead to 2-1 with a run in the fifth, on a walk to Ed Sprague, a double by Brian Daubach and an infield out by Mike Lansing that scored Sprague.

Gant then homered again in the sixth, and the Angels added a run in the eighth, when Adam Kennedy walked and eventually scored on an infield out by Matt Walbeck.

It was indeed a timely end to the Angels' slide. Tonight they'll face the Red Sox' Pedro Martinez and his stingy 1.42 earned run average.

ANGELS vs. BOSTON

Time: 7:05 p.m., at Edison Field.

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net; KLAC-AM (570), XPRS-AM (1090 Spanish).

Matchup This was supposed to be Ken Hill's turn - until the Angels released him Monday. Pedro Martinez (13-3, 1.42 ERA) will start for Boston. Yes, that Pedro Martinez, whose major-league-leading ERA is less than half that of the No. 2 man in the AL, Seattle's Matt Suzuki (3.60). The Angels will start young Ramon Ortiz (2-0, 7.56), who has long idolized Martinez, a fellow Dominican. Ortiz was recalled from Triple-A Edmonton following Monday night's game.

- Gordon Verrell

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, 2 boxes

Photo: (1) JACKSON

(2) GLAUS

(3) ANDERSON

Box: (1) Chasing Reggie

(2) Angels vs. Boston (see text)