Angels Find Balance to Split With Seattle

By the end, the Angels had taken what they could from the very balanced Seattle Mariners, leaders in the American League West for what appears to be very good reason.

The Angels split a four-game series and stayed six games back, achieving that finally with a 5-1 victory Thursday night at Edison Field. A crowd of 18,790 saw home runs by Mo Vaughn and Tim Salmon, a two-run single by stand-in third baseman Scott Spiezio and end-to-end pitching absent in the series’ first three games.

Left-hander Jarrod Washburn (5-2) pitched five shutout innings, left after nearly 100 pitches and watched as the usually game Angel bullpen finished nearly as well. Mike Fyhrie took the ball from Washburn and gave up two singles in 2 1/3 innings.

For the first time in four nights, Angel pitchers were not throttled by Seattle’s Alex Rodriguez. Including his harmless single Thursday, Rodriguez had seven hits, including three home runs, and six runs batted in in the series.

The Angels built a 5-0 lead over six innings against Mariner starter Paul Abbott, a versatile pitcher who has served Manager Lou Piniella in a variety of roles. He had won four consecutive decisions and hadn’t given up more than three runs in an appearance since mid-May.

Three scored for the Angels by the third inning. Vaughn, who took extra batting practice much earlier in the day, hit a solo home run in the first inning. It was his 22nd.

Two innings later, with Darin Erstad at second base, Salmon homered for the first time in two weeks. It carried about 423 feet.

The damage might have been more severe had first base umpire Mike Winters not missed a call after Erstad’s leadoff walk. Orlando Palmeiro hit a chopper to the left side. Shortstop Rodriguez, who had started to second when Erstad broke on a hit-and-run, circled back to the hole to make the play. His throw was late to first, but Winters called Palmeiro out anyway. Angel Manager Mike Scioscia nearly trampled Rodriguez on his way across the diamond to argue with Winters.

Still, the Angels led, 3-0, then added two more in the sixth inning and chased Abbott. With one out, Salmon walked, Garret Anderson singled and Bengie Molina walked. Spiezio, subbing for all-star third baseman Troy Glaus and batting .191 with runners in scoring position and .000 with the bases loaded, punched a two-run single to left field.

It was the final pitch for Abbott (5-3), who gave up five runs, five hits and five walks in 5 1/3 innings.

The Angels had trailed in the first inning of each of the first three games in another series that tested their pitching. Only once did an Angel starter pitch into the sixth.

Even Washburn required early help, and he gave up no runs and four hits through five innings. The right-handed Fyhrie relieved to start the sixth inning.

Washburn faced 21 batters, walked three and threw 97 pitches. He struck out Rodriguez to end the first inning with a high fastball, and used the same pitch to strike out Edgar Martinez with two runners on base in the third inning.

While they were shutout innings, they were rigorous innings for Washburn, made rewarding in part by the early runs.

Vaughn had stood at home plate four hours before game time, 90 minutes before everybody else’s batting practice. Sweat had poured from his head and neck into a dark blue T-shirt.

The batting cage shoved backward, his sleeves rolled up, Vaughn had attacked hitting coach Mickey Hatcher’s pitches.

“That’s good,” Hatcher had shouted from just in front of the mound. “That’s quick to the ball right there.”

Vaughn’s father, Leroy, leaned on the cage.

This was not your typical batting practice. Vaughn told Hatcher, “Five more,” then took 10 or 15.

“Just working on some things, that’s all,” Vaughn said when he fell into the folding chair in front of his locker. “Not a big thing. It’s very little.”

He said he was looking for a consistent setup, a familiar place to put his feet, so the strike zone wouldn’t move around on him so much. He struck out three times Wednesday, twice Tuesday and 12 times in six games.

“This stuff’s important,” Vaughn said.