Angels Count on Washburn for Victory

Something had to give Saturday night, and Angel Manager Mike Scioscia was glad it wasn’t pitcher Jarrod Washburn’s shoulder or elbow or a muscle in his rib cage.

Washburn had a no-hitter through six innings against Oakland, but because of five walks, the left-hander’s pitch count was at 93, setting up the potential for an extremely difficult decision--would Scioscia let Washburn go for the no-hitter at the risk of a dangerously high pitch count?

The question became moot when Olmedo Saenz and Matt Stairs each homered off Washburn in the seventh, but that hardly spoiled the Angels’ evening.

Washburn settled for a two-hitter over 6 2/3 innings, and the Angels beat the A’s, 7-2, before a crowd of 31,696 in Edison Field, winning their second straight and sending Oakland to its fourth consecutive loss.

Washburn finished with 107 pitches, his second-highest in 10 starts this season, but that was far fewer than the 123 pitches Brian Cooper threw in his shutout of Oakland Friday night, a pitch count Scioscia was uncomfortable with.

Scioscia pulled Washburn after Stairs’ homer, and right-hander Al Levine gave up only one hit over the final 2 1/3 innings.

Washburn, who gave up eight runs--seven earned--on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings against the Minnesota Twins in his last start Monday, didn’t seem especially sharp Saturday night. All five of his walks came in the first five innings.

But his breaking ball had a lot of snap, and he was facing a lineup that is vulnerable against left-handers--the A’s entered Saturday’s game with a .226 average against lefties. Washburn held Oakland’s lefties to one hit--Stairs’ homer--in 10 at-bats.

The Angel defense also played its third consecutive errorless game and backed Washburn (4-2) with two excellent plays.

Troy Glaus reached over the railing in front of the Angel dugout to snag Randy Velarde’s pop fly in the first, and shortstop Benji Gil back-handed Velarde’s sixth-inning grounder to the hole and, with his momentum carrying him toward left field, made an off-balance throw to first.

Mo Vaughn had RBI singles in the sixth and eighth, but this victory was battery powered--in addition to Washburn’s performance, catcher Bengie Molina smacked a two-out, two-run homer in the third to give the Angels a 4-0 lead.

Just as they did Friday night, the Angels took an early lead with a first-inning rally, scoring one run on Oakland starter Ariel Prieto’s wild pickoff attempt and another on Tim Salmon’s RBI single.

Salmon walked to lead off the third, and two outs later, Molina hit a hanging curve from Prieto over the wall in left-center.

The shot gave Molina eight homers and 35 RBIs, five home runs in his last 16 games, and added another plank in Molina’s rookie-of-the-year campaign. Not that the young catcher is out there working the reception line, pressing flesh for votes.

“I had no idea,” Molina said, when asked if he was aware his name is being mentioned with Angel second baseman Adam Kennedy and Oakland center fielder Terrence Long as the league’s leading rookie-of-the-year candidates.

“I don’t want to start thinking about that and have a bad second half. Of course it pumps you up--I’d love to be rookie of the year--but I want to stay the same all year.”

So would Scioscia, who believes the key to Molina’s success is simply good health. Injuries have nagged Molina for most of his seven-year minor league career, preventing him from catching 100 games in any one season.

But Molina lost 10 pounds over the winter, reported to spring training in great shape and has done a lot more stretching and weight work during the season than he has in past seasons.

Molina has earned praise from Scioscia for his strong throwing arm and his handling of Angel pitchers. As an added bonus, Molina is batting .314.

“I expected to play like this defensively, but the offense has been a surprise,” Molina said. “That’s what has probably made my hitting so much better--I’ve been concentrating on my defense.”

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