Washburn Keeps Rolling Along

If the playoffs started today, the Angels would play the New York Yankees. Jarrod Washburn would start the first game, in majestic Yankee Stadium, amid all the history and pressure.

Who else could the Angels possibly select? When he pitches well, the Angels win. When he does not pitch quite so well, as was the case Tuesday, the Angels win too.

Tim Salmon hit a grand slam, and Brad Fullmer hit his fourth home run in his last four starts, as the Angels pounded out 17 hits and pummeled the Chicago White Sox 11-2. The Angels took a 1 1/2-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American League wild-card race and closed within 1 1/2 games of the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

The Angels are 22 games over .500, a record that suggests two or three big winners on the pitching staff.

Nope, just Washburn, at 11 games over .500. None of the other starters is more than one game over .500.

At 14-3, Washburn has the most victories by an Angel pitcher since Chuck Finley won 15 games in 1996.

“It’s kind of like when Fin was here,” Salmon said. “He’s the guy to go to when you need a win.”

Washburn always gives you that chance. A pitcher is forgiven a bad game every now and then, and Kevin Appier, Ramon Ortiz and Aaron Sele each have given up more than five runs three times this season.

Washburn never has. In his three losses, the Angels have scored a total of three runs.

They scored early and often Tuesday against Chicago starter Dan Wright, who has faced the Angels twice in his career. The Angels won those games by a combined score of 30-2.

Salmon drove in five runs and hit the first grand slam this season by any Angel besides 5-foot-7 shortstop David Eckstein. Said Salmon: “How about that?”

Fullmer said he never had hit home runs in four consecutive starts. This season has been a challenging one for him, since Manager Mike Scioscia does not play him against left-handers.

“When I get locked in, I can do some good things,” Fullmer said. “I’m such a timing guy. The more consistent work I get, the better chance I have to get locked in at the plate.”

Garret Anderson, the epitome of consistency, doubled and singled before leaving the laugher to rest his sore hamstring.

On a night Washburn said he “really wasn’t that sharp,” he shut out the White Sox for the first five innings before tiring in the sixth, by which time the Angels led, 10-0. He needed an excessive 115 pitches to finish six innings.

Scioscia envisions Washburn in the mold of some of the staff leaders he caught when he played for the Dodgers, guys like Orel Hershiser and Fernando Valenzuela.

“He has the makeup,” Scioscia said. “He has the intangibles. He has the stuff.”

What he has not had, so far, is the durability. He has been on the disabled list in each of the last two seasons, last year not because of his arm but because of strep throat. He has not missed a start this season, and he credits an off-season training regimen for that success.

If he finishes the season strong, and if his teammates do as well, the Angels could display their ace pitcher on the playoff stage. That, Scioscia said, is where the big-game pitchers make a name for themselves.

“I have a long way to go to be considered a great pitcher,” Washburn said. “If we did make the playoffs and I pitched well, that would be a start.

“But I’ve got to keep doing what I’m doing now for a few years before I could be considered a great pitcher. I don’t think anybody can be considered a great pitcher based on having one good year.”

What Washburn cannot do, apparently, is get ready for a possible playoff start by recalling how one of his heroes did while pitching in the national spotlight. You know, someone like Hershiser or Valenzuela.

And who was his hero?

“I thought I would hit,” Washburn said. “Don Mattingly.”

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*--* It’s Getting Better All the Time Since starting the season in a slump, Tim Salmon has improved as the season has progressed. A look at his monthly numbers: Month AB R H 2B HR RBI AVG SLG April 82 14 15 4 2 10 183 305 May 88 18 27 9 6 23 307 614 June 105 18 36 13 5 18 343 610 July 98 17 29 5 3 16 295 459 Aug 22 4 9 2 2 8 409 773 Totals 395 71 116 33 18 75 294 519

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