ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Jarrod Washburn was not about to be beaten by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays again.

Washburn pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings and Jeff DaVanon had three hits, lifting the Anaheim Angels to a 2-1 victory over the Devil Rays .

Six days ago in Anaheim, Washburn gave up three runs and 11 hits over 7 1/3 innings in a 3-1 loss to the Devil Rays .

But Washburn (5-5) rebounded from the outing and limited the Devil Rays to four hits, walking three and striking out three. The lefthander departed after throwing 59 of 95 pitches for strikes.

Washburn admitted his outing was a battle.

"It wasn't a very good night," Washburn said. "My location was off a bit but I found a way to get it done. I used my defense. I threw strikes and let them put the ball in play. I didn't feel good from the get-go. I felt gassed so I did whatever I could to make quality pitches."

"Jarrod pitched tough back-to-back games against Tampa," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Those guys had good opportunities and Jarrod made good pitches to get out of jams. He just ran out of gas late."

After Ben Weber and Scott Schoeneweis each recorded an out, Brendan Donnelly , assuming the closer's role with Troy Percival on the disabled list, got the final five outs for his first save.

DaVanon went 3-for-4 and scored on Garret Anderson 's single in the top of the first.

Tampa Bay starter Victor Zambrano (1-3) gave up two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The righthander walked two and struck out six.

Making his first start since being recalled from the minor leagues earlier this month, Zambrano ran into trouble in the opening inning.

David Eckstein led off with single and went to second on a balk before DaVanon singled. With Troy Glaus at the plate, Zambrano uncorked a wild pitch to allow Eckstein to score and DaVanon went to third on a throwing error by catcher Toby Hall .

Zambrano struck out Glaus but Anderson stroked an RBI single, extending the lead to 2-0.

Zambrano settled down the rest of the way, scattering three hits over his 4 2/3 innings before he was pulled after running into trouble in the sixth.

The Devil Rays threatened in the fourth, putting two runners on with one out. But Washburn was able to work his way out of trouble by retiring Damion Easley and Jared Sandberg .

"He's an outstanding pitcher, one of the best lefties in the league," Hall said.

In the fifth, the Devil Rays again had a chance to get on the scoreboard. With Carl Crawford on second and two outs, rookie Rocco Baldelli singled to left field but third base coach Tom Foley elected to stop Crawford at third.

Television replays showed Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella upset in the dugout at Foley's decision. Piniella, who declined to speak to reporters afterwards, had more of a reason to be annoyed after Aubrey Huff grounded out to end the inning.

The Angels squandered a chance to extend the lead in the sixth. With two runners on, Bengie Molina singled into left field but Crawford threw out Brad Fullmer at the plate. Fullmer argued the play and was ejected by home plate umpire Charlie Reliford.

After Washburn departed, the Devil Rays attempted to rally in the eighth against Weber.

Huff led off with a double and Hall singled to send pinch runner Jason Tyner to third. Schoeneweis relieved and Ben Grieve grounded out to score Tyner and move pinch runner Marlon Anderson to second.

But Weber relieved and struck out Travis Lee and retired pinch hitter Javier Valentin on a deep fly ball to preserve the lead.

"He's (Donnelly) one of those guys that we need to depend on in those situations," Scioscia said. "It was big."