Angels 3, Mariners 0

By TIM KORTE
AP Sports Writer

SEATTLE (AP) Jarrod Washburn probably could have gone nine innings. But with hard-throwing Troy Percival ready in the bullpen, Anaheim Angels manager Mike Scioscia wasn't taking any chances.

Washburn threw eight sharp innings, Brad Fullmer hit a two-run homer and Percival got his first save of the season as the Anaheim Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 3-0 Thursday night.

Washburn (1-1) held Seattle to five hits by maintaining a low pitch count each inning and keeping the Mariners out of scoring position almost all night.

``I didn't feel that good at all, mechanically, not that great, especially the first few innings,'' Washburn said. ``After that, I felt real good. Something came together.''

Washburn bounced back from a loss at Oakland on Saturday and looked more like the ace that helped the Angels win their first World Series a year ago.

``He wasn't hitting 95 on the gun, but his ball had plenty of hop,'' Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. ``When you see balls getting fouled off over our dugout by right-handers getting jammed by pitches that look like 85, 86, he's got a little hop.''

The left-hander walked one and struck out one. Percival worked a hitless ninth for Anaheim's first save of the season, even though Washburn was showing no signs of slowing.

``He probably had 10, 12 or 15 pitches left, but we didn't see any reason to push it,'' Scioscia said. ``When Percy's fresh, we want him to get the clean inning. He can go out, relax and make pitches without having to worry about trying to kill a rally.''

Ryan Franklin (1-1) went six steady innings before giving way to Shigetoshi Hasegawa to start the seventh the first inning the Angels failed to put a runner on base.

Despite the loss, Franklin had good control and pitched well enough to win on any given night when the Mariners aren't scoreless. Of his 97 pitches, 61 were strikes, and he felt good about the sinker he developed in spring training.

``I made some good pitches and they hit some good pitches,'' Franklin said.

Fullmer gave the Angels all the runs they'd need by driving an 0-1 pitch deep into the right-field bleachers in the third. Darin Erstad was on base after drawing a two-out walk.

``I put it on the inside corner, and that's right where I wanted it,'' Franklin explained. ``Now that I look back, I've got to throw that one in and off the plate.''

Scioscia credited Fullmer for adjusting after he popped out to right field in the first.

``Brad made some adjustments,'' Scioscia said. ``He had a tough at-bat in the first inning and he was frustrated. He came back and stayed aggressive, got a fastball in his zone and didn't miss it.''

The Angels scored again with two outs in the fifth. Fullmer singled to left, went to third on a single by Garret Anderson and scored to make it 3-0 when Glaus doubled to left.< ^Notes:@ Seattle INF Willie Bloomquist went 2-for-3 with a triple to improve to 6-for-7 against Washburn. Called up late last season, Bloomquist went 4-for-4 off the lefty on Sept. 22. ``I don't want to say I've got his number,'' Bloomquist said. ``I got lucky on a couple of pitches.'' ... Anderson was 5-for-12 in the three-game series in Seattle. ... The Mariners' five-game errorless streak ended when LF Randy Winn misplayed a fly in the first inning, but Winn singled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to seven games. ... Seattle is 4-0 in day games and 0-5 at night.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)