Washburn’s Home Effort Is Wasted

Jarrod Washburn was winning at home.

So what?

So Washburn, defying baseball logic, almost never wins at home. The Angel left-hander was 1-6 with a 4.73 earned-run average at Angel Stadium this season when he took the mound Saturday night. His only home victory -- on June 22 against the Texas Rangers -- was his first in nearly a year. He is one of two active pitchers with 100-plus innings and an ERA at least a run lower on the road than at home.

Through seven innings Saturday against the Seattle Mariners, Washburn was in command, having given up only three hits, having retired the last 10 batters and having thrown only 95 pitches. Would he hear that rarest of sounds, the home crowd cheering him to victory?

With first place in the American League West at stake -- the Oakland Athletics had lost earlier in the day -- Angel Manager Mike Scioscia wasn’t willing to wait long enough to find out.

Saying he was concerned that Washburn would irritate the lingering tightness in his left forearm, Scioscia went to his bullpen and the results were disastrous. The Mariners rallied for five runs in the last two innings to pull out a 6-3 victory and leave the Angels (76-59) tied with Oakland.

“He’s been battling tightness in the forearm, “ said Scioscia of Washburn. “He got us to that point and that was enough for the night.”

Washburn, while saying the condition of his arm had not worsened in the later innings Saturday, would not dispute Scioscia’s decision.

“I am not going to second-guess Mike,” Washburn said. “He has made great decisions all year. He’s looking out for my best interests. My [forearm] is tolerable right now. There isn’t anything that concerns me. It’s not setting off any alarms. But there is no reason to have a flare-up with a month to go in the season.”

At first, it seemed like another dismal night at Angel Stadium for Washburn. He was in trouble from the beginning, before the late-arriving fans had even found their seats. Leadoff hitter Ichiro Suzuki hit Washburn’s third pitch into right field for a triple. It was the outfielder’s 11th triple this season, the second-highest total in the league. Suzuki wasn’t at third base long. The next batter, Jamal Strong, hit a liner to center field that Chone Figgins corralled with a diving catch. But that allowed Suzuki to trot home.

The Angels tied the score on a single, a walk and Darin Erstad’s run-scoring single to right field in the first inning.

The speed of Figgins carried the Angels to the go-ahead run in the third. The center fielder dropped a bunt down the first base line and beat it out when neither pitcher Ryan Franklin nor second baseman Jose Lopez could make it to the bag in time to cover. A line-drive single just inside the first base line by Garret Anderson sent Figgins to third base.

Up came Vladimir Guerrero, the hero Friday night with a towering home run to left-center field, the 300th of his career. Nothing quite so heroic this time, but just as satisfying for the Angels. Guerrero hit into a force play at second base, with Figgins scoring when the Mariners’ were unable to turn the double play.

By then, Washburn had settled down. He gave up singles in the second and third innings, but that was the extent of the Mariners’ attack.

Until right-hander Brendan Donnelly entered the game for the Angels in the eighth. Then, the slumbering Mariners awoke.

With Washburn out of there, Manager Mike Hargrove sent the left-handed-hitting Jeremy Reed as a pinch-hitter to open the eighth and he responded with a double into right-center field. Suzuki beat out a bunt to put runners at the corners. Raul Ibanez then singled into right field to tie the score.

In the ninth, Suzuki drove in the tie-breaking run with a single against Scot Shields. Greg Dobbs doubled in a run and Ibanez singled home two more, giving him three runs batted in.

And once again, Washburn left Angel Stadium with nothing to add to his win column.