Starters May Be Watson Allies

The way Angel starters are pitching, disgruntled left-hander Allen Watson could be out of the bullpen and back in the rotation within a week or so.

Rookie left-hander Jarrod Washburn was hit hard by the A’s Monday night, and right-hander Omar Olivares’ struggles continued in Tuesday’s 6-2 loss to Oakland.

Olivares, the team’s most consistent and effective starter in May and June, was roughed up for five runs, three earned, in three innings. He gave up seven hits and walked three and is 0-4 with a 9.64 earned-run average in his last four starts.

“It’s the location of my pitches--I’ve been missing my spots,” said Olivares, who relies on a sinking fastball to induce ground-ball outs. “My pitches are up in the zone, they’re staying flat, and I’m not getting the same movement.”

Is Olivares suffering from a tired arm? Has he lost the feel on some of his pitches?

“It could be a combination of a lot of things,” Olivares (5-6) said. “It’s a long season, and everybody hits a rough spot where for some reason your arm, your body, your control or your mechanics go wrong. I just have to bounce back.”

*

Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina took Tuesday’s loss especially hard, and not because his struggles against Kenny Rogers--DiSarcina is three for 40 (.075) lifetime against the A’s left-hander--continued.

DiSarcina fielded Ben Grieve’s hard grounder up the middle in the first inning, did a 360-degree turn and threw low to first for only his third error in the last 56 games. Matt Stairs and Jason Giambi followed with RBI singles, and Miguel Tejada’s sacrifice fly gave Oakland a 3-0 lead.

“If I make that play, we get out of that first inning giving up only one run and it changes the game,” DiSarcina said. “You can’t give any team four outs in an inning. That wasn’t good. In your mind you think you can make every play, but we’re human. We can’t.”

*

The Angels owned the A’s in 1997 and early 1998, winning 14 of 15 games from them at one point, but the surging A’s have won their last five games against the Angels, all in July, and trail Anaheim by only seven games in the American League West.

“These five games have been huge,” Stairs said. “The key was the first three games. We could have been knocked all the way out of it, but now we’re in a position where we can do some things.”

Said Angel Manager Terry Collins: “Don’t let them kid you--they have a good team. They have a good offensive club and they’re getting good starting pitching.”

*

The Angels scored twice in the eighth inning Tuesday when Jim Edmonds singled, Tim Salmon doubled, Cecil Fielder hit a sacrifice fly and Garret Anderson extended his hitting streak to 12 with an RBI double. They had runners at second and third with none out in the third and two out in the sixth and did not score. . . . Todd Greene will begin another minor league rehabilitation stint, most likely at Class-A Lake Elsinore, early next week. Greene, who can’t catch this season because of a shoulder injury, will play first base in preparation for a possible August return to the Angels. . . . Reliever Mike Holtz, suffering from flulike symptoms, was unavailable Tuesday. . . . The Angel catching platoon of Matt Walbeck and Phil Nevin has one RBI in July. . . . Rogers, 3-1 with a 2.14 ERA over his last 11 starts, left Tuesday’s game after six innings because of a sore left hamstring.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ CHUCK FINLEY (8-4, 3.15 ERA)

vs.

TAMPA BAY’S WILSON ALVAREZ (4-6, 4.48 ERA)

* Opponent--Tampa Bay Devil Rays, two games.

* Site--Edison Field.

* Tonight--7:30.

* TV--Fox Sports West tonight.

* Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090), KIK-FM (94.3).

* Records--Angels 51-41, Devil Rays 35-57.

* Record vs. Devil Rays--4-3.

* Update--The offense-impaired Devil Rays ended an 11-game losing streak with Tuesday’s 5-4 victory over Boston. During the streak, Tampa Bay scored 16 runs, hit .206 with three home runs and was shut out five times. The Devil Rays also went one for 40 with runners in scoring position. In Alvarez, the Angels will be facing a left-handed starter for the fifth time in the last seven games. The Angels are 2-9 in July. “We’re going through a spell where everyone is looking for an answer, and we keep tripping over ourselves and stumbling,” Salmon said. “We can’t seem to get anything going. We just have to stay confident that we can turn things around.”

* Thursday, 7 p.m.--Steve Sparks (3-1, 4.06) vs. Rolando Arrojo (10-6, 3.03).

Tickets--(714) 663-9000.