WASHBURN POINTS WAY ANGELS PULL OUT NARROW VICTORY, KEEP PACE IN WEST ANGELS 4, PITTSBURGH 3.Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer ANAHEIM - Oh, sure, Angels manager Mike Scioscia The Angels got a solid outing from starter 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 , who got help from middle reliever Ben Weber William Jennings Bryan "Ben" Weber (born July 23, 1916 in St. Louis - died June 16, 1979 in New York) was America's first twelve tone composer. Weber, completely self-taught as a composer, was in the late 30s part of a Chicago musical group that included George Perle and and closer Troy Percival Troy Eugene Percival (born August 9, 1969 in Fontana, California) is a Major League Baseball reliever on the St. Louis Cardinals. Percival came out of retirement on June 8, 2007 when he signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals[1]. (14th save). Troy Glaus Troy Edward Glaus (born August 3, 1976 in Tarzana, California) is a Major League Baseball player who plays third base for the Toronto Blue Jays. Previously, Glaus played with the Anaheim Angels (1998-2004) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2005). and Garret Anderson Garret Joseph Anderson (born June 30, 1972 in Los Angeles, California) is a Major League Baseball left fielder who has played his entire career for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. hit home runs to provide the bulk of the offense and the Angels came away 4-3 winners in front of 16,861 at Edison Field. With the victory, the Angels remain one game behind first-place Seattle 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. . Washburn (6-2) won his sixth consecutive decision after giving up three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. Since starting the season 0-2 in his first three starts, Washburn is 6-0 with a 2.85 ERA in his past 10 starts, but he said Monday's game was not one of his better ones. ``Really, tonight I had pretty bad command,'' said Washburn, who had not won at home since last July 24, covering 13 starts. ``I got away with some pitches early. I'm really not happy with my performance, but we won. That's all that matters.'' Right about the time Washburn took off, so did the Angels. Since going 6-14 to begin the season, the Angels are 31-10 and their mark of 37-24 is the franchise's best ever through 61 games. But as well as the Angels have played for the past six weeks, one cannot detect a sense of satisfaction from the players, nor from Scioscia in particular. ``We're not raising any banners up here,'' Scioscia said. ``We recognize the challenge in front of us. Our goal is not to play good baseball for six weeks, our goal is to play good baseball for six months.'' However, the Angels have won games in unlikely fashion. They've got a league-leading three grand slams from 5-foot-7 shortstop David Eckstein David Mark Eckstein, (born January 20, 1975 in Sanford, Florida), is a Major League Baseball shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is noted for his size, as he is a small (for professional sports) 5' 7", but weighs 175 pounds. , leading some to believe maybe it's destiny for the Angels. Not so, says Scioscia. ``This has nothing to do with fate,'' Scioscia said. ``We're going to have to earn it and we're not going to underestimate the work involved.'' The Angels got to work right away in Monday's game. After Washburn got a double-play ball to get out of the top of the first, Glaus broke a slide at 0 for 9 with his 13th homer of the season with Darin Erstad Darin Charles Erstad (born June 4, 1974 in Jamestown, North Dakota) is a first baseman/center fielder in Major League Baseball currently with the Chicago White Sox. Prior to 2007, he had played his entire career with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim franchise (1996-2006). on base to put the Angels up 2-0. Washburn allowed only two hits through five innings, and in the bottom of the fifth, Anderson matched Glaus with his 13th homer of the season to increase the Angels' lead to 3-0. Tim Salmon followed with a pop fly to shallow right-center that fell among second baseman Pokey Reese, right fielder Craig Wilson and center fielder Chad Hermansen. Scott Spiezio bunted Salmon to second, and one out later, Benji Gil's bloop bloop Baseball n. A blooper. tr.v. blooped, bloop·ing, bloops To hit (a ball) into the air just beyond the infield. adj. Hit just beyond the infield. single to center score Salmon to give the Angels a 4-0 lead. Washburn said he was ``gassed'' by the seventh inning, when the Pirates rallied with three runs, one on Wilson's solo homer. After the homer, Kevin Young, Reese and pinch hitter Rob Mackowiak each doubled, scoring two more runs to make it 4-3. But Weber, who replaced Washburn after Reese's double, worked his way out of the seventh with the lead intact. Weber, who will be Percival's primary set-up man while Al Levine recovers from a sore right shoulder, came up big in the eighth with the heart of the Pirates' order up. Jason Kendall opened the inning with a single, but Weber needed four pitches - all off-speed - to strike out cleanup hitter Brian Giles. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Angels starter Jarrod Washburn won his sixth consecutive decision Monday to improve to 6-2. Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press |
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