Angel Bid for .500 Fails, 1-0 : Baseball: Ranger starter Kevin Brown and reliever Kenny Rogers handcuff the California hitters.

If Chili Davis’ chopper in the sixth inning had gotten past Ranger second baseman Julio Franco . . .

Or if Dante Bichette’s eighth-inning grounder had been a few inches more to the right of shortstop Jeff Huson . . .

Or if Brian Downing’s towering fly ball with two out in the ninth inning had cleared the center-field fence, the Angels say they might have won.

That’s three “ifs,” and four missed chances in the past week to reach .500. Although they say that hasn’t become a psychological barrier, it remained tantalizingly beyond their reach Monday after their 1-0 loss to Texas at Arlington Stadium.

“Getting over .500 is not a big hump for us,” Bichette said, “but I guess it seems like it.”

The obstacle in their path Monday was Ranger right-hander Kevin Brown, who hadn’t won a game since May 5 and had been weakened by a case of the flu. His sinker was perfectly healthy. In seven innings, Brown (6-4) recorded seven strikeouts and 14 ground-ball outs.

“He pitched a real good ballgame,” said Angel starter Kirk McCaskill, who lasted seven innings. “You’ve got to give the other guy credit sometimes.”

The crowd of 13,619 showered Ranger Manager Bobby Valentine with boos when he removed Brown in the eighth inning after he had yielded a leadoff double to Luis Polonia. The Angels applauded.

“I really thought they lost the game when they did that,” said Bichette, who had grounded back to Brown in the sixth inning with Polonia on third base and Davis on first to short-circuit the Angels’ first real scoring threat. “He was throwing a good game--a shutout. I was having trouble getting the ball in the air against him. Everybody else was saying the same thing as soon as they took him out. We were saying ‘Thank you.’ ”

That gratitude was short-lived. Reliever Kenny Rogers walked Devon White, but Wally Joyner--hitting away after Angel Manager Doug Rader decided he was “very reluctant to bunt with my best hitter when the game is on the line”--flied to right. Davis popped to first, but Bichette almost brought Polonia in with his shot to short. Huson dived and corralled it on the edge of the infield dirt, preventing it from going through.

“When Huson made that play, he saved the game,” said Rogers, who superstitiously circles the mound after each pitch in order to avoid stepping on the rubber. “We made our own breaks tonight.”

They capitalized on a break in the third when third baseman Rick Schu didn’t play Gary Pettis’ grounder cleanly and made a one-hop throw that Joyner couldn’t hold. “I just rushed it,” Schu said. “I knew Gary was running. I probably had time to set up, but I just tried to get rid of it as quick as I could.”

Pettis stole second with Huson--the leadoff hitter--at the plate and went to third when Huson grounded to the right side. Rafael Palmiero’s single to left brought Pettis home. “A couple of breaks, that’s the difference,” Bichette said. “If the ball gets through that Chili hits, it’s a tie game. If the ball gets through that I hit, it’s a tie game. If the ball (hit by Downing) goes over the fence it’s a tie game.”

Downing, who hit for Gary DiSarcina, came to bat with the idea of producing a tie. “I went up there looking for a high fastball to hit out,” Downing said. “He came down and in but I saw it real well and decided to go for it. That wee bit of hesitation was the difference.”

It made the difference between a .500 record and falling back to 25-27, between being 8 1/2 games behind the Oakland A’s and being 9 1/2 back, as they are before opening a three-game series against the Royals today in Kansas City.

“This isn’t frustrating. The frustration was when we were losing earlier in the season,” Bichette said. “We’re not choking. We don’t want to play .500--we want to play better.”

Which they can do only if they get to .500 first.

Angel Notes

Nolan Ryan, who has been unable to start since May 17 because of back spasms, won’t pitch against the Angels when Texas visits Anaheim Stadium this weekend. Ryan, who is seven victories short of 300, will face the Oakland A’s Wednesday in Arlington, Tex., and again next Monday in Oakland.

Catcher Lance Parrish was hit below the right elbow by a pitch in the seventh inning and had to leave in the eighth when it became numb and stiff. It was initially diagnosed as a bruise, and Parrish said he would see how it felt today to determine whether he could play.

More “ifs” on a night of possibilities: If the Angels had tied the score on Brian Downing’s ninth-inning fly ball, Manager Doug Rader said Downing might have stayed in the game and played a position for the first time since 1987.

Third baseman Jack Howell (sprained left knee) has been taking batting practice and fielding ground balls and is expected back in the lineup Friday. However, Kent Anderson (sprained right shoulder) has experienced discomfort while throwing and no date has been set for his return.