Angels Rout Rangers 18-6

The Anaheim Angels started an important four-game series with the Texas Rangers looking for a split. After winning the first two games, the Angels are getting greedy.

The Angels moved within a half-game of first-place Texas in the AL West on Saturday night, routing the Rangers 18-6.

"When we got here, the best thing we could hope for was a split," said Anaheim's Jim Edmonds, who went 4-for-6 with three doubles to tie an Angels record. "Now that we've won the first two, we'll go from there."

Gary DiSarcina had a career-high five hits to lead the Angels to a season-high 21 hits. Anaheim also had its most runs this season.

"All year he's been hitting the ball well," said Angels bench coach Joe Maddon, the acting manager while Terry Collins serves out an eight-game suspension. "Even his outs have been hit hard. He was hitting shots all over the place."

DiSarcina finished 5-for-5, with two doubles, a triple and four RBIs as Anaheim extended its winning streak to three games. The Angels also had eight doubles to tie a club record last accomplished in 1984.

"It's a good start, but you're never satisfied," Maddon said. "We have a little momentum on our side. Scripted out, we wanted at least two wins. Now we want to continue on."

The faltering Rangers lost their third in a row and Texas starter Aaron Sele failed in his bid to become the major leagues' first 10-game winner.

"I can't think of anything we did very well out there tonight," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "A lot of it was our own doing. I'm very disappointed in tonight's performance. But we've got two games to go. We've bounced back before."

Anaheim rookie Jarrod Washburn (2-0) allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings, taking advantage of a healthy lead in his third major league start. He struck out three and walked four as the Angels won for the 13th time in 15 games.

"It helps to have a lead like that, but at the same time sometimes it's easier to concentrate in a closer game," Washburn said. "But I'm not going to argue with it."

Anaheim held a 2-1 lead when it broke the game open with the seven-run fifth that chased Sele (9-4). Edmonds doubled in three runs, Garret Anderson had a run-scoring groundout, Matt Walback added a two-run double, and DiSarcina had an RBI double to make it 9-1.

Sele allowed eight runs and seven hits over four-plus innings. Sele, who struck out seven and walked two, has lasted four innings or less in three of his last four starts.

Cecil Fielder and Anderson added RBI singles in the sixth, and Fielder scored when pitcher Tim Crabtree missed a return throw from second base for an error on a potential double-play ball to make it 12-1.

Solo homers by MikSimms in the sixth and Roberto Kelly in the seventh cut Anaheim's lead to 12-3. Kelly also homered in the ninth.

Anaheim made it 15-3 in the eighth on Texas shortstop Scott Sheldon's throwing error, and DiSarcina's two-run double.

Texas' Bill Hasselman hit a two-run homer in the eighth, but the Angels added three runs in the ninth on Orlando Palmeiro's two-run single and a run scored on a double play.

The Rangers were without catcher Ivan Rodriguez, shortstop Kevin Elster and second baseman Mark McLemore, all out with injuries.

The Angels got a run in the first on Edmonds' two-out double and Tim Salmon's RBI single. The Rangers tied it at in the bottom of the inning when Simms oaded walk.

Anaheim took a 2-1 lead in the second when Anderson doubled and scored on DiSarcina's triple.

Notes: The Rangers placed pitcher Darren Oliver on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 11 and called up catcher Rick Wrona from Triple-A Oklahoma. Oliver strained a muscle in his shoulder while hitting a double Wednesday at Colorado. ... Rodriguez, a six-time Gold Glove winner, will be lost to the Rangers for the next three to five games because of a sprained left ankle. Rodriguez, the major league's top hitter with a .372 average, arrived at The Ballpark in Arlington on crutches prior to Saturday night's game after spraining his ankle while running the bases in the second inning of Friday night's game against the Angels. ... The Angels trailed the Rangers by six games on May 27.

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