NOTHING BUGS ANGELS GLAUS ENDURES SPILL BETTER THAN GNAT INVASION ANGELS 6, CLEVELAND 1.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

CLEVELAND - In this Angels season, where a dose of bad news is only as far away as the next at-bat, the club barely flinched at the sight of Troy Glaus tumbling over first base and rolling several times over his surgically-repaired right shoulder Saturday night.

The collision with Cleveland Indians first baseman Josh Phelps, and subsequent pratfall, made for a disconcerting sight, but afterward, Glaus said he was OK. So are the Angels, who got a crisp return to the rotation from Jarrod Washburn in a 6-1 victory over the Indians at Jacobs Field.

The Angels (77-58) moved within 3 1/2 games of Boston in the wild-card race and remained four games behind Oakland in the American League West. The Athletics have won 11 of their past 12 games, and the Angels have not gained ground on them since Aug. 22.

Washburn (11-5), out since July 20 with a rib cage injury, struck out six and gave up just two hits in five innings, admittedly gassed after throwing just 73 pitches. He was given a lead to hold in the fourth inning, when Glaus started a rally with a one-out double and scored along with Jeff DaVanon when Adam Kennedy scorched a ball past Phelps for what was ruled a three-base error.

Phelps, a designated hitter by trade, got the start at first only because the Indians wanted to load the lineup with left-handers against Washburn. His marginal ability there created that collision that sent Glaus sprawling.

With two outs in the fifth, Glaus grounded to third baseman John McDonald, who threw slightly wide of first. Phelps crept into the baseline to catch the ball and Glaus collided with him.

Glaus missed 97 games after undergoing shoulder surgery May 21, a procedure brought on by two dives on artificial turf. This time, as he went down, he used his right hand to brace himself and then went tumbling with all the grace of a nose tackle after getting chop blocked.

``This game has a funny way of finding out if you're ready to play or not,'' first baseman Darin Erstad said, with a hint of a grin. ``It's crazy how that works out.''

Glaus walked gingerly off the field and left the game with what the club called shoulder irritation.

Glaus called it an annoyance, kind of like the infiltration of gnats at Jacobs Field that sent customers to the exits and forced Glaus to step out of the batter's box at one point.

``I was trying to avoid falling, obviously,'' Glaus said. ``I hit the ground, and it's like, I'm all right.''

He said he should be back at designated hitter tonight, ``but, it's not my decision.''

Washburn essentially asked out after five innings but was pleased he was so sharp after missing nearly seven weeks.

After giving up an RBI single to Coco Crisp (Pierce College) in the second, Washburn retired the last 10 batters he faced. It was a far cry from the 13 hits, 10 runs and four home runs he gave up to Cleveland in his previous outing, when his injury barked and he tried to fight through it.

``Any win now is important, but it felt nice to get back at these guys a little bit because they gave me a serious (butt) kicking last time,'' Washburn said. ``You expect to come back, compete and give us a chance to win, but honestly, I didn't expect to be this sharp.''

Scot Shields picked up Washburn with three scoreless innings, and Troy Percival pitched a scoreless ninth for the second consecutive night.

The win made the bug situation more fathomable. Glaus called the gnats ``disgusting, absolutely ... atrocious.'' Erstad said he swallowed ``about a hundred of them.''

To Washburn's delight, they seemed to have a greater effect on hitters, but his changeup was sharp enough not to need any help from the insect world.

``I had a couple fly in my ear,'' he said. ``We won, and that's all that matters.''

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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Vladimir Guerrero scores in the fifth inning as Indians catcher Victor Martinez reaches for a low throw.

Ron Schwane/Associated Press

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