A Plateau Is Finally Reached

The Angels fastened their crampons, swung their pick axes into the side of the mountain and ascended to what seemed like unfathomable heights, reaching the .500 mark with Tuesday night’s 7-3 pasting of the Oakland Athletics before 16,166 in Edison Field.

Now what?

It has been so long since the Angels (28-28) had as many wins as losses--April 15, when they were 6-6, to be exact--and they have spent so much energy trying to reach that elusive .500 mark, it should be interesting to see if they have enough left in the oxygen tanks to continue the ascent.

“Reaching .500 is always a benchmark, a milestone, but hopefully it’s the start of our journey,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “There’s still a ton of baseball left.”

And on the mountain that is the American League West, the Angels have barely reached base camp.

Though they extended their winning streak to a season-high five games behind another solid Jarrod Washburn start and home runs by Tim Salmon, Darin Erstad and Garret Anderson, they are still 16 1/2 games behind Seattle, which won its 13th consecutive game Tuesday night.

“You can’t make it to the playoffs under .500,” said Washburn, who gave up one run on four hits in seven innings to improve to 4-4. “This is the first step we had to reach, and we have to climb from here. We’re not going to catch Seattle tomorrow--we may never catch Seattle--but there’s a [wild-card] spot out there, and that’s what we’re shooting for.”

Pat Rapp was scheduled to start for the Angels Tuesday night, and the right-hander was supposed to be followed by Washburn today and right-hander Ismael Valdes Thursday.

But Scioscia juggled his rotation so two left-handers, Washburn and Scott Schoeneweis, could start against an A’s team that includes several strong left-handed batters.

An added benefit for the Angels: Washburn and Schoeneweis, the team’s most effective starters in recent weeks, could pitch on their regular four days’ rest despite Monday’s day off.

And for Scioscia’s next trick . . .

That’s how well the manager’s juggling routine went. Washburn had a no-hitter through four innings before Olmedo Saenz led off the fifth with a single. He had a shutout until Jason Giambi homered to lead off the seventh. He struck out three and walked only two.

After opening the season with three consecutive losses, Washburn is 4-1 with a 3.38 earned-run average in his last seven starts, lowering his ERA from 7.56 on April 27 to 4.45 Tuesday night.

“I’m 100% healthy finally,” said Washburn, who sat out a month from mid-March to mid-April because of strep throat. “I got rid of my curveball after my third start, and I’ve been able to concentrate on fewer pitches; it’s given me less to worry about. Everything is coming together.”

With Washburn’s performance, Angel starting pitchers are 5-1 with a 1.82 ERA in the last nine games, giving up 13 earned runs in 64 1/3 innings.

“I couldn’t break a string like that,” Washburn said. “Hopefully Rapper can keep it going [tonight]. Baseball is starting to be fun again. I knew it was only a matter of time before we started hitting. With the way we’re pitching, hopefully we can climb back into this thing.”

It didn’t hurt that Oakland starter Mark Mulder was not in peak form. The left-hander who was 5-0 with a 2.47 ERA in six May starts was rocked for seven runs on 11 hits in four innings of his first June start.

Salmon followed Erstad’s single and Troy Glaus’ walk in the first inning with a three-run homer, his third homer in four at-bats, fourth in three games and fifth of the homestand.

David Eckstein singled with two out in the fourth, and Erstad tore into Mulder’s hanging curve, blasting it over the right-field wall for a two-run homer and a 5-0 lead.

Anderson followed Salmon’s leadoff walk in the fifth with a towering two-run homer into the right-field bleachers for a 7-0 lead, giving the Angels 11 home runs in their last five games.

Erstad has gone 42 for 111 (.378) in his last 26 games, raising his average from .204 on May 5 to .290 Tuesday night. Salmon has improved from .195 on May 26 to .226 Tuesday night.

“You can tell the most about players when things are not going well,” Scioscia said. “Salmon and Ersty had their troubles early in the season, but they came to the park early every day and worked hard. Now they’re reaping the benefits.”