Angels Find Some Rays of Sunshine in Florida

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays couldn’t have come at a better time for the Angels. Their season on the brink of turning from bad to hideous, the Angels found refuge this weekend at Tropicana Field, home to baseball’s most woebegone team.

With Saturday’s power-packed 10-4 victory over the Devil Rays before a crowd of 13,496, the Angels have won the first two games of a four-game series to move to within three games (22-25) of that elusive .500 mark, a level the Angels haven’t reached since they were 6-6 on April 15.

Considering their opponent, a team that is on pace to lose an American League-record 118 games, has baseball’s second-worst earned-run average (5.58) and has not won consecutive games in more than a month, the Angels should be disappointed if they don’t sweep the series or win three of four.

“With the way [first-place] Seattle is playing, we can’t afford to go into Tampa Bay and struggle against a team like that,” said second baseman Adam Kennedy, who had two doubles, a single and two runs Saturday. “To put a winning streak together before [this week’s] home stand could be the start of a nice little run for us.”

The outcome Saturday was never in doubt, as the Angels pounded starter Paul Wilson for three runs in the first inning and four runs in the second, but Angel starter Jarrod Washburn made Manager Mike Scioscia squirm a bit.

Gerald Williams smacked a two-run homer to left in the second inning, and Ben Grieve hit a two-run homer to left in the third, pulling the Devil Rays within 7-4.

Garret Anderson’s sacrifice fly in the fourth made it 8-4, but Washburn ran into more trouble in the bottom of the fourth, walking Williams with one out and giving up a single to Aubrey Huff.

Pitching coach Bud Black often goes to the mound in these situations, but Scioscia handled this visit himself, jogging briskly to the mound, delivering a short but stern lecture to Washburn and whacking him on the behind like a jockey whipping a horse.

And down the stretch Washburn went, retiring nine of the next 10 batters and blanking the Devil Rays through the seventh inning before handing the ball to reliever Scot Shields, who threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his major league debut.

“He picks the right times and yells just the right amount,” said Washburn, who gave up five hits in seven innings to improve to 3-4. “He told me to get my focus back and quit trying to overthrow. He was right, and when he’s right, I see absolutely no reason why he can’t come out and yell at me. It’s fun when it works out.”

So is having an early seven-run lead and the backing of a 12-hit attack that combines strength and speed. Wally Joyner and Anderson provided the muscle, hitting consecutive home runs in the second, with Anderson’s bomb traveling an estimated 431 feet to right field.

Kennedy, the No. 9 batter, and David Eckstein and Darin Erstad, the first and second batters, provided much of the movement, running the bases aggressively and creating scoring opportunities for an offense that has been stagnant for much of the season.

After opening the game with a single, Eckstein got a great jump on Erstad’s single to right and took third, just ahead of outfielder Randy Winn’s throw. Troy Glaus’ RBI double, Scott Spiezio’s bases loaded walk and Tim Salmon’s sacrifice fly made it 3-0.

After doubling to open the second, Kennedy alertly stole third when Huff, the Devil Ray third baseman, moved too far toward home on Eckstein’s bunt. That allowed Kennedy to score on Erstad’s grounder for a 4-0 lead.

After leading off the fourth with a single and taking second on a wild pitch, Erstad stole third, putting himself in a position to score on Anderson’s sacrifice fly for an 8-4 lead.

“This is what we mean when we say we have to manufacture runs,” Scioscia said. “Eck singled [in the first], got a great secondary lead and beat the throw of a right fielder with a great arm. That was a big table-setter.”