UNLIKELY HEROES AN 8TH WONDER ANGELS UP STREAK, MAINTAIN LEAD ANGELS 7, TAMPA BAY 3.Byline: Keven Chavez Staff Writer ANAHEIM - The Angels took care of business in their now familiar fashion Saturday. Fall behind early, get some timely hitting and solid pitching and chalk up another one in the win column. What was rare and so important for the Angels' chances down the stretch was having 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 Steve Finley Steven Allen Finley (born March 12 1965, in Union City, Tennessee) is a Major League Baseball center fielder who bats and throws left-handed. He currently is a free agent, and has been working out on a regular basis since his release, hopeful a call will come from a team looking leading that charge. Washburn pitched six strong innings in his return to the mound from an arm injury, and Finley delivered a go-ahead three-run home run as the Angels won their eighth consecutive game, a 7-3 decision over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are a professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida, Florida. The Devil Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Devil Rays have played in Tropicana Field. in front of 42,344 at Angel Stadium. ``We're playing good ball right now, probably better than we have all season long,'' said Washburn, who earned his first win since beating Baltimore on Aug. 23. ``It's good to see us playing that way right now. ``This is more along the lines of how we saw ourselves playing all year.'' The victory allowed the Angels to maintain their four-game lead over the Oakland Athletics “Philadelphia Athletics” redirects here. For other uses, see Philadelphia Athletics (disambiguation). The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. in the American League West The American League West is one of three divisions in Major League Baseball's American League. The division currently has four teams, but it has had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. . The Angels' magic number (combination of Angels' wins and A's losses) for clinching the division fell to five. Finley entered Saturday's game with one 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 this month, but his second-inning blast propelled the Angels to their seventh comeback win in eight games. Trailing 2-0 in the second inning, Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Alvino Guerrero (born February 9, 1976 in Don Gregorio, Nizao, Dominican Republic), and known in his native Dominican Republic as Miquéas (Spanish for Micah), is a Major League Baseball right fielder who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. led off with an opposite-field home run off Devil Rays starter Doug Waechter Douglas Michael Waechter (born January 28, 1981 in St. Petersburg, Florida) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He currently is going through rehab in the minor leagues. (5-11) to cut the Devil Rays' lead in half. After singles by Darin Erstad and Bengie Molina, Finley drove a fastball over the out-of-town scoreboard in right field for his 11th home run of the season and a 4-2 Angels lead. ``Steve Finley gave us a big lift,'' said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. ``We've been waiting for some of those nights and tonight he gave it to us.'' It turned out to be all the cushion Washburn would need. The left-hander had been out of the Angels' starting rotation since Sept. 9, missing two scheduled starts with tendinitis in his left forearm. Washburn bounced back from a rough first inning and allowed just six hits and two runs in an encouraging outing. The smoke from the pregame fireworks fireworks: see pyrotechnics. fireworks Explosives or combustibles used for display. Of ancient Chinese origin, fireworks evidently developed out of military rockets and explosive missiles and accompanied the spread of military explosives westward to wasn't even clear before Washburn had given up two first-inning runs. Julio Lugo led off with a single, then Carl Crawford followed by dropping a bunt in front of the mound. Washburn slipped as he fielded the ball, then threw errantly from his knees down the right-field line, allowing Lugo to score and Crawford to take third. A sacrifice fly by Jorge Cantu gave the Devil Rays a 2-0 lead just three batters into the game. ``I felt good,'' said Washburn (8-8). ``It took a couple of starts to get going the last time I was on the (disabled list). Today, it only took one inning.'' Finley also doubled in the fifth inning, making it the first game since May 30 in which the 40-year-old had multiple extra-base hits. Scot Shields pitched two perfect innings in his 75th appearance of the season. Erstad had two hits and Garret Anderson, who missed the three previous games with stiffness in his lower back, hit an RBI ground-rule double in the eighth inning. Keven Chavez, (626) 962-8811 keven.chavez(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 5 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) The Angels' Steve Finley, center, is congratulated by Darin Erstad and Bengie Molina after Finley hit a three-run home run in the second inning. (2) Tampa Bay's Jorge Cantu, left, tags out the Angels' Vladimir Guerrero, who was trying to stretch a single into a double in the third inning Saturday. Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press Box: (1) ANGELS vs. TAMPA BAY - Keven Chavez (2) GAME RECAP (3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED (4) 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. (5) PLAYOFF CHASE |
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