Washburn Has 20 Vision

With possibly three starts remaining, left-hander Jarrod Washburn could become only the sixth 20-game winner in Angel history.

Washburn pitched 7 1/3 strong innings Friday night in a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers at Edison Field, improving to a team-leading 18-5 with a 3.24 earned-run average in 30 starts. Nolan Ryan twice had 20 or more victories, winning 22 games in 1974.

The Angels have not had a 20-game winner since, though three pitchers have won 19, with Mark Langston the last to reach that mark, in 1991. Washburn wants to end the streak.

“At the start of the year, I didn’t say, ‘I want to win 20 games,’ but that’s in your mind,� he said. “If it happens, it’s significant, no matter if I was on the [New York] Yankees, who’ve been around forever, or the [Tampa Bay] Devil Rays, who haven’t been around for many years.... It’s a great achievement for any pitcher.�

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All-Star left fielder Garret Anderson suffered a mild strain of his right hamstring on an infield hit in the third inning of Saturday’s 8-6 victory over Texas.

Anderson, who was two for two with a double, was replaced by Alex Ochoa in the fifth and is listed as day to day, Manager Mike Scioscia said. Anderson is batting .314 and leads the club with 26 home runs and 114 runs batted in.

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The Angel bullpen has allowed only three earned runs in its last 47 2/3 innings.

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Scioscia said right-hander Aaron Sele is scheduled to throw off a mound today for the first time since doctors detected a partially torn rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder. If all goes well, Sele, who threw batting practice Friday, would pitch a simulated game Tuesday.

With 14 games remaining, it is doubtful Sele could regain enough stamina and shoulder strength to return as a starter. It’s also unlikely he would be included on the postseason roster for the division series, though he could be added as a reliever later if the Angels advanced.

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TONIGHT

ANGELS’

RAMON ORTIZ

(13-9, 3.83 ERA)

vs.

RANGERS’

KENNY ROGERS

(13-7, 3.80 ERA)

Edison Field, 5

TV--ESPN2

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

Update--Ortiz is 3-0 with a 1.28 earned-run average in his last three starts. Rogers, the only Ranger pitcher with at least 10 victories, has limited left-handed batters to a .203 average.

Tickets--(714) 663-9000.