ANGELS GOING THE EXTRA MILE.Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer ANAHEIM - Pitching and defense often are considered the foundation of championship teams, and it appears the Angels are banking on as much. Through two games, they've received some stellar pitching that's pulled along an offense that seems determined to do just enough to win. Wednesday night, they got six shutout innings from Jarrod Washburn Jarrod Michael Washburn (born August 13, 1974 in La Crosse, Wisconsin) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. Drafted by the California Angels in the 2nd round of the 1995 amateur draft out of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Washburn won the final game and a stunning defensive play from a trio of Gold Glovers. The offense? Oh, they sat on their hands until the last possible moment, when Darin Erstad's two-out RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in double in the ninth inning forced extra innings Noun 1. extra innings - overtime play until one team is ahead at the end of an inning; e.g. baseball extra time, overtime - playing time beyond regulation, to break a tie , and the Angels and Texas Rangers Texas Rangers, mounted fighting force organized (1835) during the Texas Revolution. During the republic they became established as the guardians of the Texas frontier, particularly against Native Americans. were tied 2-2 through 10 innings. The Angels won their opener 3-2, and in two games have mostly quieted a Rangers lineup that is considered among the American League's best. Wednesday, the lone blemish blem·ish n. A small circumscribed alteration of the skin considered to be unesthetic but insignificant. blemish came when reliever Brendan Donnelly Brendan Kevin Donnelly (b. July 4, 1971 in Washington, D.C.) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher with the Boston Red Sox. Donnelly had bounced around the minor leagues for 10 seasons after he was drafted in 1992 by the Chicago White Sox before he finally made his gave up a two-run homer to Richard Hidalgo in the top of the eighth inning, a towering blow that erased a 1-0 lead and washed away Washburn's handiwork. While Donnelly's untimely gopher ball necessitated Erstad's last-minute Houdini act, the Angels' lineup provided no margin for error. They enabled longtime nemesis Kenny Rogers to skate through six innings with just 71 pitches and a 1-0 deficit. After Hidalgo's homer, two walks and an error loaded the bases in the eighth for the Angels, prompting Texas manager Buck Showalter to summon closer Francisco Cordero. Orlando Cabrera took a ball, but instead of working the count, he flailed at the next pitch and fouled out to catcher Rod Barajas to end the threat. Cordero wasn't as lucky in the ninth, when Bengie Molina's single came two batters before Erstad poked a Cordero pitch down the left field line to tie the game. Washburn put on a clinic in changing speeds in working six scoreless innings and also got a big pick-up from his defense. Center fielder Steve Finley, shortstop Cabrera and catcher Molina - all Gold Glove winners all - combined on a stellar 8-6-2 putout put·out n. Baseball Abbr. PO A play in which a batter or a baserunner is retired. Noun 1. putout - an out resulting from a fielding play (not a strikeout); "the first baseman made 15 putouts" in the fourth inning that preserved Washburn's shutout. With one out in the fourth, Rod Barajas ripped a ball into the gap between Finley and Anderson, and it bounced to the wall. Matthews, an above-average runner, never hesitated despite third-base coach Steve Smith's efforts to stop him. But Finley whirled and threw to shortstop Cabrera, whose relay from shallow left reached catcher Molina in the nick of time. His swipe tag on Matthews preserved the 1-0 lead. The Angels signed Finley and Cabrera this season so they could move Anderson to left, and so there'd be an upgrade over former shortstop David Eckstein's arm at shortstop. This defensive gem likely wouldn't have occurred with their previous alignment. Meanwhile, Washburn was deftly working out of trouble. The left-hander once threw almost exclusively fastballs, but in recent years has attempted to integrate a slider A block of material that holds the read/write head of a magnetic disk. See flying head. , changeup and split-finger fastball into his repertoire. Gabe Lacques, (626) 962-8811 gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): photo, 2 boxes Photo: The Angels' Jarrod Washburn pitched six shutout innings Wednesday against the Texas Rangers, but he did not factor into the decision. Chris Carlson/Associated Press Box: (1) ANGELS vs. TEXAS - Gabe Lacques (2) ALMANAC almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts, seasonal changes, and the like. |
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