Monday, July 22, 2002
Angels 7, Mariners 5
The Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Anaheim Angels just won't let Jarrod Washburn lose. Washburn won his 12th consecutive decision and Garret Anderson drove in the go-ahead run with his second double as Anaheim completed a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 7-5 victory Sunday night.
“They did a great job. I just tried to keep them in the game, and they just kept battling back, scrapping every inning to put one on the board,” Washburn said. “The bullpen did a great job after I got out of there.”
The Angels swept the AL West-leading Mariners for the first time since June 16-18, 1998, at Edison Field. Anaheim moved within a game of first-place Seattle, which is two games ahead of third-place Oakland.
After winning the series opener 15-3, the Angels had to rally Saturday and Sunday to complete the sweep.
“We just ran into a hot team,” Seattle second baseman Bret Boone said. “They beat us pretty good this weekend, but we're not too worried about it.”
The first two games were sellouts, with 34,945 fans attending Sunday.
“We had a packed house for the most part, the fans were into it,” Washburn said. “I've never been in the playoffs, but it kind of felt like a little bit of a playoff atmosphere. It feels good to sweep anybody, especially Seattle.”
Washburn's streak is a career-best and the longest in the major leagues this season. He moved within two of tying Chuck Finley's club record 14-game winning streak from July 1, 1997, to May 2, 1998.
“I don't like to lose. It's on my mind,” Washburn said of the streak that began after his last loss on April 13 against Oakland.
Washburn (12-2) gave up five runs on eight hits in seven innings, struck out four and walked one. The five earned runs equaled Washburn's total in his five previous starts.
The left-hander retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced before giving up four runs in the fourth inning to trail 4-1.
“Wash battled, kept us in the game,” Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said. “They had a lot of chances. Wash was as much a part of getting the win as anybody.”
The Angels trailed 5-3 before scoring one run in the sixth and two runs in the seventh to take the lead.
“We couldn't hold the lead again. They got to our bullpen again,” Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. “They're swinging the bats well. We'll look at some film and see if we'll pitch them a little differently when they come into town, and see if that helps.”
Tim Salmon's sacrifice fly off reliever Jeff Nelson (1-2) tied the game at 5 in the seventh. Anderson followed by doubling into the right-field corner, scoring Darin Erstad, who had singled, to give Anaheim a 6-5 lead.
Nelson led off the eighth by hitting Scott Spiezio with a pitch and Spiezio scored on David Eckstein's groundout to give Anaheim a 7-5 lead.
Ben Weber got three outs for his fourth save in six attempts while filing in for the injured Troy Percival.
Anaheim got seven hits out of the bottom of its order, including a career-high three singles from catcher Jose Molina.
“We talked about the need to pressure clubs every inning, especially good clubs like Seattle,” Scioscia said. “You can't wait for a couple guys in the middle of your lineup to come around every third inning and try to get it done for you. We're getting production from one through nine.”
The Mariners rattled Washburn by scoring four runs in the fourth. Edgar Martinez' RBI single tied the game at 1. John Olerud followed with an RBI double. Mike Cameron's RBI single brought in the third run before Dan Wilson's sacrifice fly scored Olerud and made it 4-1.
“I didn't do my job,” Seattle starter Joel Pineiro said. “I had a four-run lead and let them back in the ballgame. I gave up too many extra-base hits and too many two-out hits.”
The Angels chipped away with runs in the fourth and fifth. Brad Fullmer's two-out RBI single scored Anderson, who had his first double of the game. Erstad's run-scoring groundout left Anaheim trailing 4-3.
Olerud hit his 17th homer on Washburn's first pitch of the sixth to give Seattle a 5-3 lead.
Adam Kennedy drew the Angels within a run on his ground-rule double with two out in the sixth.
Notes: Seattle's bullpen allowed 16 hits and 17 earned runs, with four walks and four strikeouts, in 8 1-3 innings of the three-game series. ... Anaheim reliever Brendan Donnelly struck out seven of the last 13 batters he faced in the series' final two games, and retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced. ... The Angels are 19 games over .500 for the first time this season, and first since Aug. 29, 1995. ... Anaheim won a three-game series at home over Seattle for the first time since taking two of three at Edison Field on July 5-7, 1999. ... The Mariners have lost three in a row and are 5-6 since the All-Star break.
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Angels 7, Mariners 5 
