ANGELS RAIN ON A'S SWEEP SOLID SHOWING BY WASHBURN; ZITO ALSO STRONG ANGELS 2, OAKLAND 1.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - The cavalry, manager Mike Scioscia said Monday, is not on the way to rescue the Angels.

Losers of nine of 11 since the All-Star break, whatever help that arrives via trade before Thursday's non-waiver deadline will only augment the existing core, a core that needs to get better part by part if the Angels are to crawl back into contention.

Monday night, Jarrod Washburn became a part of that solution.

Rocked for a career-worst 10 earned runs in his last outing, and sporting an 8.01 ERA in his last eight starts, Washburn crawled off the canvas and gave the Angels seven sterling, shutout innings as he locked horns with Oakland's Cy Young Award winner, Barry Zito. He left in a scoreless tie, but his outing enabled eighth-inning RBI singles from Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson to provide a 2-1 victory over the Athletics at Edison Field.

The victory salvaged the final game of a four-game series in which the A's won the first three games by a 21-4 margin. The Angels are back to .500, at 52-52, and within 10 1/2 games of first-place Seattle.

Shut out for seven innings by Zito (USC, Pierce College), the Angels produced a two-out rally off Oakland left-hander Ricardo Rincon in the eighth. David Eckstein walked and Darin Erstad snapped an 0-for-14 funk with a single that sent Eckstein to third. Chad Bradford came on to face Salmon, who chopped a ball back to the mound, where Bradford leaped, but had the ball glance off the top of his glove.

It landed in no-man's land, enabling Eckstein to score the game's first run. Anderson followed with an RBI single for a key insurance run. Troy Percival gave up a home run to Erubiel Durazo in the ninth but held on for his 23rd save.

Playoff hopes are still something of a fantasy for the defending World Series champs but that could change if the starting pitching, among other things, improves.

Consider Washburn's outing a step in the right direction.

After last Wednesday's 3 1/3-inning, 10-run debacle against the Texas Rangers, Washburn said, ``I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing out there,'' and that was obvious. He dropped the ball on the mound for a balk, committed a throwing error and was drilled for nine hits, two of them homers, making his total a league-leading 27.

Monday, after allowing four baserunners in the first two innings, Washburn seemed to find his 18-win form from a year ago.

With two on, one out and a full count to Adam Piatt in the second inning, Piatt dunked a ball toward right field, where Tim Salmon converged, made a shoestring catch just inches above the outfield grass and threw to first for an inning-ending double play.

Buoyed by Salmon's gem, Washburn retired the next 14 A's, cruising into the seventh inning, when a rare July shower dropped rain on the crowd of 38,402, many of whom scampered for the concourses.

Washburn had no choice but to dance between the raindrops after he gave up singles to Eric Chavez and David McCarty. But on his 110th pitch of the night, he blew a fastball by Terrence Long to end the threat and get the game to the Angels' bullpen. Brendan Donnelly (1-1) pitched the eighth for his first victory.

All night, it appeared the life was back on Washburn's fastball. He hit his usual 89 mph on the radar gun in striking out Eric Byrnes to start the game, moved the ball inside and outside effectively and struck out seven.

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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After giving up 10 earned runs in his last outing, Angels starter Jarrod Washburn struck out seven, tying a season high, in Monday's 2-1 win over Oakland.

Matt Sayles/Associated Press