Well, two weeks later, Washburn will get his start. He was scheduled to come off the DL and face Oakland in the first of a three-game series on Monday night at Edison Stadium. Mark Mulder (0-1, 2.92) was the Athletics' probable starter.

Washburn will be facing an Oakland club that has lost seven straight. The A's, after being swept by the Mariners and Rangers, are off to a 2-10 start.

The Angels (6-6) are coming off a tough 7-5 loss to the Mariners, who took two of three at Edison over the weekend.

Still, there was reason to smile for the Angels. That's because they got two strong back-to-back performances from starting pitchers Ismael Valdes and Pat Rapp. Valdes pitched six innings of four-hit ball in a 2-1 loss on Saturday.

On Sunday, the bullpen failed to protect a 3-1. That was the score when Rapp left after seven innings. Rapp allowed just five hits, none after the fourth. He struck out four and walked one -- this after walking eight batters in his first two starts.

Relievers Shigetoshi Hasegawa and Mark Holtz faced 10 men in the eighth inning, and six of them scored.

"This one slipped away," manager Mike Scioscia said, "but, in the big picture, these last couple of outings we got from Valdes and Rapp are very encouraging." p.WHO'S HOT: Catcher Benji Molina carried a seven-game hitting streak into Monday's game. He was 11-for-26 in the stretch, raising his average to .364.

WHO'S NOT: Tim Salmon was hitless in his last 16 at-bats going into Monday's game. He was hitting .140 (6-for-43).

NO RUSH: The Angels have no desire to rush their top pitching prospects up to the major leagues and will resist the temptation to do so. Scioscia said minor league hotshots Chris Bootcheck, Joe Torres and John Lackey not only won't pitch in the big leagues this year, they won't be rushed out of Class-A (Bootcheck and Torres) or Double-A (Lackey) ball. The question rises because the club is already digging into the minors to get pitching help.

Hudler didn't have aneurysm

Anaheim Angels broadcaster Rex Hudler, recovering from bleeding at the base of the brain, was scheduled to be released from the hospital last Thursday.

Hudler, 40, was hospitalized April 7 in Oakland with a severe headache and tests showed he had bleeding at the base of the brain. It was at first believed that he had suffered an aneurysm.

Tests taken Monday found that Hudler had a minor hemorrhage, but the vessel has since sealed over and is not leaking, said Dr. Gary Steinberg.

Hudler, who played 13 major league seasons, is scheduled to return to Stanford on May 11 for a follow-up angiogram.

--The Associated Press