Angels Take Care of Business

This doesn’t happen every day--or hardly any day recently--but the Oakland Athletics lost ground to the Angels on Tuesday.

The A’s did not play, true. They haven’t lost in three weeks. But they haven’t shaken off the Angels.

The Angels took another step toward the playoffs--and another step closer to Oakland--with a 10-2 victory over the hapless Tampa Bay Devil Rays. With Angel ace Jarrod Washburn winning again and outfielder Orlando Palmeiro tying a career high by driving in four runs, the Angels gained on both pursuers in the American League wild-card race. They lead the Seattle Mariners by 2 1/2 games and the Boston Red Sox by 5 1/2.

But the Angels haven’t conceded the AL West to the A’s, not with four games against Oakland next week and four more a week later. The A’s have won 19 consecutive games, but the Angels lurk 3 1/2 games behind.

“It’s amazing what they’re doing. Good for them,” Angel outfielder Darin Erstad said. “But we’re still in this thing. We want to win the division.”

The Devil Rays are abominable. They’re 38 games out of first, on pace for 106 losses. They committed two errors Tuesday, walked home a run and had a wild pitch and a passed ball. The game ended when they had a runner thrown out at home.

And, although the Devil Rays announced they had sold 10,146 tickets, the actual “crowd” was less than half that. The announced crowd would have been even lower if not for two Angel rookies--infielder Chone Figgins, who lives in Tampa, and pitcher Scot Shields, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale--combining to draw 70 friends and family members.

There was a game to be won, against a crummy team, beneath a crummy dome, and the Angels took care of business.

Washburn (16-5) became the first Angel with 16 victories since Chuck Finley and Mark Langston each won 16 in 1993. No Angel has won more since 1991, when Langston won 19 and Finley and Jim Abbott each won 18.

Instead of celebrating the milestone victory, Washburn sounded embarrassed by it. He pitched five innings, his shortest outing since April. He gave up six hits and three walks and threw 100 pitches, a performance far from dominant.

“Any time we can pull out a win when I’m that bad, that’s a positive,” he said. “The bullpen should get the win for that. I shouldn’t.”

After losing once between April 13 and Aug. 17, Washburn is 1-2 with a 6.08 earned-run average in his last four starts.

Washburn historically fades in September, but the Angels insist his current stumbles reflect a mechanical flaw--”easily correctable,” pitching coach Bud Black said--rather than any recurrent fatigue or weakness in his arm.

Manager Mike Scioscia said there is no evidence of decreased velocity, as there was in previous seasons, or other indicator of caution. Washburn’s career ERA in September is 5.23, but Scioscia and Washburn believe experience and a conditioning program have made the pitcher strong enough to flourish this month.

“Physically, I feel great,” Washburn said. “I just couldn’t throw a strike.”

Al Levine pitched two scoreless relief innings, as did Shields. Second baseman Adam Kennedy extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games. Palmeiro, about to yield right field back to Tim Salmon, has seven hits in his last 11 at-bats.

Outfielder Garret Anderson doubled again. He leads the majors with 50 doubles and could become the first AL player with 60 since Charlie Gehringer of the Detroit Tigers in 1936.

The major league record is 67, set by Earl Webb of the 1931 Boston Red Sox.

Catcher Bengie Molina drew another walk. Molina, who drew two walks in April and two in May, has four walks in his last five games.

And Figgins got into the game in the ninth inning, drawing warm applause from the 45 friends and family members here to cheer him on. On this night, they were easily heard.