ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Ryan Drese certainly didn't pitch like a

castoff in his debut for the Washington Nationals.

Waived by Texas and claimed by Washington last Friday, Drese was

sensational in his first game for the Nationals, holding the Los

Angeles Angels to two hits over eight innings of a 1-0 victory

Wednesday night.

"I thought I was pitching all right there [in Texas]," said

Drese, who was 4-6 with 6.46 ERA in 12 starts for the Rangers

before they let him go.

"I'd been throwing the ball well, but I just hadn't had the

results. Tonight I threw the ball well and had the results."

Frank Robinson liked what he saw.

"That was a terrific outing on his part," the Nationals'

manager said. "He got a lot of ground balls and let the infielders

make the plays behind him.

"He just made it look easy out there. He got ahead of the

hitters, made some pitches when he had to and finished them off. He

had a good sinker tonight."

Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia obviously didn't like the

outcome, but paid the Nationals' right-hander his due.

"Drese was kind of effectively wild, throwing off the plate a

little bit, then getting in the zone," Scioscia said. "He pitched

a heck of a eight innings."

Brian Schneider homered off Bartolo Colon in the sixth inning,

giving the Nationals two wins in their three-game series matching

NL East and AL West division leaders.

Reliever Chad Cordero worked out of his own bases-loaded, no-out

jam in the ninth for his 18th consecutive save and 21st in 23

chances. He struck out Steve Finley, got Bengie Molina on a fly to

short center field, and struck out Dallas McPherson to end it.

"That's about as gutsy as it gets, really," Robinson said of

Cordero's performance. "You can't be in any worse jam than that --

bases loaded and nobody out in a one-run ball game on the road."

Washington's 12th win in 13 games was uneventful, unlike Tuesday

night's when Angels reliever Brendan Donnelly was ejected in the

seventh inning after pine tar was found on his glove. Robinson and

Scioscia got into a verbal confrontation with both benches emptying

although no punches were thrown.

Drese struck out three and walked four. The hits off Drese were

Orlando Cabrera's single in the third inning, and Adam Kennedy's

single in the eighth.

The 29-year-old Drese was 14-10 with a 4.20 ERA for the Rangers

last year and was their opening day starter this year, but still

was cut loose.

In his first game for Washington, Drese (1-0) ended a four-game

winning streak by Colon (8-4). Colon allowed one run and eight hits

in his second complete game of the season. He struck out two.

Schneider hit Colon's first pitch in the sixth over the wall in

right for his fourth homer.

The Nationals' Jose Guillen, who was suspended by the Angels

late last season for throwing a temper tantrum after being taken

out of a game, was booed roundly every time he came to the plate in

his return to Anaheim.

Guillen, traded to the Nationals' franchise in November, drew an

even louder chorus of boos when he slammed his helmet to the ground

when left fielder Jeff DaVanon robbed him of a hit with a sliding

catch in the sixth inning.

Guillen went 5-for-13 in the series against his former

teammates, including a two-run homer during a four-run eighth

inning that carried the Nationals to a 6-3 victory in the second

game. He went 2-for-4 in the finale.

Afterward, he blasted Scioscia, saying: "I can never get over

what happened last year. It's something I'm never going to forget.

Every time I play that team and Scioscia's managing, it's always

going to be personal to me."Game notes
Donnelly, who had a new glove, thinks other pitchers have

being using pine tar. "It's my belief that a lot of pitchers are

going to go out there with newer gloves in the near future,

starting today." ... Angels 1B Darin Erstad singled in the ninth

to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 16 games.