Angels Win to Get a Little Closer

As the Angels celebrated Tuesday night’s 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers before 24,082 in Comerica Park, the Toronto Blue Jays rallied for four ninth-inning runs to defeat the Oakland Athletics, 6-3.

The Angels’ 10th victory in 13 games, combined with the end of Oakland’s 11- game win streak, moved the Angels to within five games of the A’s in the American League wild-card race--not that anyone in the Angel clubhouse seemed to care.

“Well . . . good,” was about as strong a reaction pitcher Jarrod Washburn could muster after giving up one run and four hits in six innings to end a two-game losing streak and improve to 10-6.

“There’s a month and a half left, and a lot can happen. So we’re five out instead of six. We’re still behind them. If there were two weeks left and we were scratching and clawing, maybe it would mean something. It’s good they lost, but we have to go about our job.”

The Angels are 21-11 since the All-Star break, but their impressive second half has been overshadowed by the A’s, who have won 33 of 44 since June 27 and hogged national headlines. That’s fine with the Angels, who seem content to go unnoticed.

“If people don’t see us or don’t hear us coming, that’s fine,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “If they don’t give us respect, that’s fine. If they don’t think we’re the best thing since sliced bread, that’s fine.”

The Angels are buoyed by the fact they have 20 games left against wild-card contenders Minnesota, Cleveland, Boston and Oakland, including seven games against the A’s.

“Obviously, Oakland is on a great run,” Scioscia said, “but we have a lot of games left with them, so we’re going to have a chance at this.”

Still, the Angels can’t overlook the Detroits of the world. They dispatched the Tigers with ease Tuesday, scoring three runs in the second and three in the fourth to back Washburn, who eliminated any concern about a left shoulder that was sore after his last start.

Washburn blanked the Tigers through five innings before giving up a home run to Damion Easley in the sixth. The Angels got that run back when Garret Anderson hit his 23rd homer of the season in the seventh.

“Maybe he wasn’t as sharp as he was before, but it’s a step in the right direction,” Scioscia said of Washburn. “We’re relieved. He definitely cleared a big hurdle.”

Detroit must feel like it’s trying to clear a pole-vault bar . . . without the pole. The Tigers (48-69) have lost five in a row and 11 of 13, and just in case they needed a reminder of their struggles, they were greeted by this headline in Tuesday’s Detroit News: “Are Tigers hopeless?”

A News columnist described the Tigers as “fundamentally pathetic, profoundly listless,” and wondered if they had “one stinking ounce” of pride. A sports-talk radio host referred to the Tigers as “the Toledo Mud Hens’ major-league affiliate.”

Detroit did little to refute the critics Tuesday. Though the Angels earned their runs in the second, their fourth-inning rally was gift-wrapped.

Left fielder Bobby Higginson dropped Adam Kennedy’s fly ball for a two-base error, Bengie Molina reached on an infield single and Orlando Palmeiro walked to load the bases.

Kennedy scored and Molina and Palmeiro advanced on catcher Javier Cardona’s passed ball, which forced the infield in. David Eckstein then grounded a two-run single up the middle for a 6-0 lead, a potential double-play ball if the infield was at normal depth.

The Angels loaded the bases in the second when Scott Spiezio’s doubled, Tim Salmon singled and Kennedy was hit by a pitch. Molina singled to center for two runs, Palmeiro reached on a bunt single, and a third run scored on Eckstein’s double-play grounder.

Salmon made the defensive play of the game, gunning down Wendell Magee at the plate when Magee tried to score on Juan Encarnacion’s fly to right in the seventh.