Watson, Angels Go the Route

Angel pitcher Allen Watson was knocked down but not out Friday. He was taken deep--really, really deep--by Tampa Bay’s Fred McGriff--so, what else is new?

Neither was too much of a distraction for Watson, who picked up his first victory this season and his first complete game in nearly two years in the Angels’ 10-3 victory over the Devil Rays. They were small distractions, mere speed bumps.

“I was upset after the first [inning],” Watson said.

Sure, after McGriff buried a 1-and-0 pitch some 30 rows behind the right-field fence at Tropicana Field, giving the 27,767 something to cheer about for the time being. “I was kind of motivated to win after the second inning,” said Watson, who was flattened by Devil Ray catcher John Flaherty while covering first base to end the inning.

OK, so an angry Watson can be a dangerous Watson. He channeled those emotions into his pitching, throwing only the second complete game of his career and the first since May 30, 1996, when he was with the San Francisco Giants.

Watson (1-2) gave up the two-run homer in the first, then threw seven shutout innings before giving up a run in the ninth. By then, the Angels had provided him with 10 runs.

He struck out five and walked one while throwing 102 pitches, 66 of which were strikes. Watson also ended any thought of a rally by picking off Quinton McCracken at second base with two on and two out in the third. It not only kept the Angels ahead, 6-2, but left McGriff at the plate.

Watson was pretty much in control from then on.

“The best thing about tonight is he went out and wanted to finish the game,” Manager Terry Collins said. “I thought that was important for him. Last year, he got us into the seventh inning a lot of nights, but some of the games he couldn’t put away.”

It may further the lesson to the Devil Rays about not waking sleeping ex-Giants.

In the second, Flaherty hit a slow roller to first baseman Darin Erstad, who had trouble picking up the ball before tagging the bag. Watson covered first on the play and was standing just behind the bag when Flaherty arrived.

“I was pretty [angry],” Watson said “But I was in the base line. He could have said, ‘I’m sorry.’ He ran me over pretty good. Next time, it will be a different story. I’m going to talk to him about it. I’m going see him in the outfield tomorrow.”

There are times when such emotions undo Watson. This time, it merely fueled the fire.

“Watty has that New York boy coat of armor, that tough-guy attitude,” pitcher Chuck Finely said. “I’ve told him, ‘Watty, you got to relax.’ Tonight was good for him.”

An understatement, considering Watson entered the game with a 11.08 earned-run average. The Devil Rays had helped inflate that in Watson’s previous game, in which he gave up six runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Things looked headed in a similar direction in the first, as McGriff homered to cut the Angel lead to 3-2. McGriff has six hits off Watson, four are home runs.

“[Coach] Rod Carew came over and talked to me after the first inning and calmed me down,” Watson said.

“I was trying to get three hours of concentration and not let things bother me. I let the team down the first few games. . . . They gave me some runs today and I wanted to win. When you get 10 runs, you should win.”

The Angels did back Watson with their best offensive performance in two weeks--even without Tim Salmon (strained ligament). The Devil Rays helped by hitting four batters in the first three innings. But the Angels came up with 13 hits, their second-highest total this season.

Jim Edmonds provided a two-run double in the first. Damon Mashore, playing for Salmon, had a run-scoring single later in the inning for a 3-0 lead. Mashore also hit a two-run homer in the ninth, finishing with two hits and two runs.