Washburn Gets Some Advice and It’s Good for the Angels

Coaching can’t be this easy, can it? After watching Jarrod Washburn struggle in his first four starts, Angel pitching coach Dick Pole had some simple advice for the young left-hander: Stop thinking about mechanics on the mound.

A little bit of amnesia has gone a long way for Washburn, who retired 22 consecutive batters from the first through eighth innings Sunday to lead the Angels to a 6-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins before 11,301 in the Metrodome.

Washburn (2-3) gave up one run on three hits in eight innings, striking out seven and walking none, a strong follow-up to his 7 2/3-inning, three-run, five-hit victory over the New York Yankees on Monday night.

“Dick did a good job figuring out after two or three games that I might not be smart enough to pitch and think about mechanics at the same time,” said Washburn, who threw 102 pitches, 70 of them strikes. “Instead of thinking about how I’m lifting my leg or where I’m releasing the ball, I just throw it.”

Eric Milton’s no-hitter against the Angels Saturday seemed to rub off on Washburn a bit, because the Angel left-hander looked a lot like the Twin left-hander Sunday, locating his 91-mph fastballs on the corners, mixing in an occasional curve and changeup, and making few mistakes.

After Denny Hocking’s leadoff single in the first, Minnesota didn’t have another baserunner until Chad Allen’s one-out single in the eighth. Washburn caught Twins looking on three of his seven strikeouts, and his only blemish was Torii Hunter’s RBI triple in the eighth.

“The greatest pitcher in the game, Greg Maddux, said he doesn’t think about mechanics, and that’s why he pitches so well,” said Pole, who tutored Maddux when both were with the Chicago Cubs from 1988-91. “Do you play golf? Do you think about your swing? When you do, you don’t hit the ball well. That’s why I stink at golf.

“You’ve got to make the game simple, especially with the younger guys. I guarantee you [Angel first-base coach] George Hendrick never thought about his stance or swing in the batter’s box. That’s why he was such a good hitter.”

The Angels, their regulars back in the lineup, were far better hitters Sunday than they were Saturday. They gave Washburn a cushion with three runs in the first, a rally Troy Glaus capped with a two-run homer off Twin starter Joe Mays, the team-leading 27th homer for Glaus.

The Angels, who scored their first run on Mo Vaughn’s sacrifice fly, had gone 38 outs without a hit before Glaus’ homer.

Vaughn then blasted a 457-foot solo homer in the sixth, giving him 26 homers and continuing a recent pattern that would seem to indicate there is a friendly competition between the two for the team home run lead.

Three times in the last three weeks, a Glaus homer early in the game has been followed by a Vaughn homer later in the game. The two have homered in the same game five times. After Glaus homered on Aug. 13 and 15, Vaughn homered on Aug. 16 and 17.

“I joke with him about it, because it seems like when I hit one, he hits one,” Glaus said. “But there’s no home run chase. The better he does, the better I do, and the better everyone does.”

Vaughn said he has not been motivated by Glaus’ power figures. Nor does he feel feel threatened by the possibility of a 23-year-old kid hitting more homers than him.

“He’s my teammate, and I pull for him,” Vaughn said. “It’s not like I’m in competition with Troy Glaus. I won’t be upset if he hits more homers than I do.”