Angels’ Hopes Come Out in Washburn

The Seattle Mariners may be out of sight in the American League West, but the wild card is not out of the Angels’ minds.

Jarrod Washburn threw a 7 2/3-inning, five-hit, one-run gem, and the Angels rallied for six runs in the fifth inning en route to an 8-1 victory over the Mariners before a sellout crowd of 45,461 in Safeco Field Friday night.

The Angels, who handed Seattle right-hander Aaron Sele (8-1) his first loss of the season, barely put a dent in the Mariners’ division lead, which stands at 18 1/2 games. But the Angels pulled to within seven games of Minnesota in the wild-card race, a development that surprised some in their clubhouse.

“Really?” Darin Erstad said, when informed of the wild-card deficit. “What Seattle is doing is out of this world, but we’re definitely within striking distance. All you want is to have a shot going into September.”

They could if they continue to combine superb starting pitching with clutch hitting, like they did Friday night.

Only two runners reached second base against Washburn (5-4) in the first seven innings, and the Angels, who were batting .238 with runners in scoring position, went six for 10 in those situations to win their first game of the season in Seattle after being swept in a four-game series here in April.

“We definitely had something to prove,” said Washburn, who is 5-1 with a 3.15 earned-run average in his last 10 starts after opening the season with three losses.

“They kicked our butts here the last time, and it was important to make a statement that we can play with them. They’re definitely a great team, but I don’t think they’re 18 games better than us.”

True. The Mariners are 18 1/2 games better right now. But the Twins and the Yankees and the A’s aren’t, and those are the teams the Angels will likely be chasing or fending off this summer.

Washburn, who induced 17 fly-ball outs, created a little mess for himself in the third inning when he threw Mike Cameron’s potential double-play comebacker into center field for his first big-league error, putting runners on first and second with one out.

But Edgar Martinez, a .329 hitter with runners in scoring position, popped to third, and cleanup batter John Olerud lined out to left.

The Angels banged out six hits in the fifth, and the Mariners provided legs for the rally when shortstop Carlos Guillen threw away Tim Salmon’s grounder for an error and Sele hit Scott Spiezio with an 0-2 pitch.

Angel Manager Mike Scioscia removed the bunt with a 2-1 count on Shawn Wooten, who singled to load the bases. Larry Barnes singled sharply to right for the first run, and David Eckstein’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0.

Adam Kennedy doubled to right-center, and Wooten held so long near second that Barnes, who was on first, nearly caught Wooten between third and home. But both runners scored, with Wooten crossing the plate just before Barnes slid home for a 4-0 lead.

“I knew he was on my tail, because everyone was saying, ‘Run!’ ” said Wooten, who added a two-run homer in the eighth. “I’m not the speediest guy in the world.”

The best one-liner in the dugout, according to Scioscia, came from Spiezio, who said: “The umpire called Wooten out and Barnes safe.”

The laughter subsided. The hits didn’t. Erstad’s infield single put runners on first and third, and Troy Glaus struck out. Garret Anderson’s two-out RBI single to right made it 5-0, and Salmon’s RBI single to center made it 6-0. Sele threw 41 pitches in the inning.

“Early runs are important,” Scioscia said, “but so is the opportunity to get a big inning early to beat their bullpen into the game. If you have a decent chance to get one, you have to take it.”

With good reason: The Mariners may have baseball’s best bullpen, a standout relief corps that includes closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, Arthur Rhodes and Jeff Nelson, and they are 42-3 in games in which they lead after six innings. But those relievers were not a factor Friday night.