A'S, ZITO SLIP PAST HALOS, WASHBURN IN 1:57
Solo HRs by Chavez, Hernandez Game's Only Tallies

ANAHEIM, Cal. (AP) - Barry Zito tossed a complete game shutout and was supported by solo home runs off the bats of Eric Chavez and Ramon Hernandez as the Oakland Athletics defeated Jarrod Washburn and the Anaheim Angels, 2-0, at Edison Field.  The game was played in an exceptionally brisk one hour and 57 minutes, the quickest contest in the major leagues thus far this season and the only one played in less than two hours.  The complete game was Zito's fourth of the season and his counterpart, Washburn, tossed a complete game of his own--his second of the year.  This marked only the second time in the major leagues this season that both starting pitchers in a single game threw complete games.  David Wells and C.C. Sabathia both went the distance in Cleveland's 2-0 victory over New York at Yankee Stadium on July 19.

The A's had a two-out scoring threat in the second inning and the Angels had men in scoring position with two outs in the first and second frames, but the game was scoreless through four, with Washburn carrying a no-hitter into the top of the fifth.  After retiring Hernandez on a fly ball to center fielder Darrin Erstad, Chavez jumped on a first pitch fastball and drove it into the right field stands for a 1-0 Oakland lead.

In the bottom of the inning, Adam Kennedy singled to left with one out and moved to second on David Eckstein's ground out but Erstad flied to right for the third out of the inning.

The score was still 1-0 in the seventh inning and Washburn struck out Erubiel Durazo to start the frame.  But Hernandez drove an 0-2 mistake over the left field wall to up the A's advantage to 2-0.

That was it for the scoring.  Zito (15-4) yielded a two-out single to Shawn Wooten in the sixth but retired Bengie Molina on a fly to center.  Molina was the first of a string of 10 consecutive Anaheim batters that Zito set down to end the game. 

The shutout is Zito's second of the year.  Two major league pitchers have now reached the 15-win threshold and both of them pitch for the A's.  Tim Hudson currently holds an 18-2 record.

The win was the fifth in a row for Oakland.  The A's lead the American League West by 5 1/2 games, pending the outcome of Seattle's game against Texas at Safeco Field.

7/28/2003, Oak03-Ana03, Edison Field
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
2003 Athletics         0  0  0  0  1  0  1  0  0     2  4  0     3  0
2003 Angels            0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  6  2     6  1
 
Athletics            AB  R  H BI   AVG    Angels               AB  R  H BI   AVG
Byrnes            cf  4  0  0  0  .260    Eckstein          ss  4  0  1  0  .272
Ellis,M           2b  4  0  0  0  .227    Erstad            cf  4  0  0  0  .247
Tejada            ss  4  0  0  0  .356    Salmon            rf  4  0  1  0  .334
Durazo            dh  4  0  1  0  .282    Anderson,G        lf  4  0  0  0  .285
Hernandez,Ra      c   4  1  1  1  .270    Wooten            dh  4  0  1  0  .200
Chavez,Er         3b  3  1  1  1  .272    Molina,B          c   4  0  0  0  .248
McCarty           1b  3  0  1  0  .227    Spiezio           3b  3  0  1  0  .259
Long              rf  3  0  0  0  .265    Quinlan           1b  3  0  1  0  .333
Piatt             lf  3  0  0  0  .200    Kennedy,A         2b  3  0  1  0  .263
                     32  2  4  2                               33  0  6  0
 
Athletics                        INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Zito             W 15-4          9.0  6  0  0  0  4  93  63  2.14
                                 9.0  6  0  0  0  4  93  63
 
Angels                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Washburn         L 10-8          9.0  4  2  2  0  5  93  69  2.94
                                 9.0  4  2  2  0  5  93  69
 
E-Spiezio 2. 2B-Durazo(29), Salmon(42). HR-Hernandez,Ra(12), Chavez,Er(19).
RBI-Hernandez,Ra(51), Chavez,Er(67). K-Byrnes, Durazo 2, Long, Piatt,
Erstad 2, Anderson,G, Molina,B.
GWRBI: Chavez,Er
Temperature: 74, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 21 MPH.
Attendance: 25,947
Game Time: 1:57