Henderson’s Homer in 10th Beats Angels : Baseball: Oakland, trailing 6-0 in the fifth inning, comes back to record a 7-6 victory and drop California 13 1/2 games back.

The Angels’ vital signs flickered perceptibly Monday night when Rickey Henderson’s home run with one out in the 10th inning capped a dramatic comeback and gave the Oakland A’s a 7-6 victory over the Angels at the Oakland Coliseum.

In the opener of a stretch Manager Doug Rader had termed “vitally important” to his club’s pennant hopes, the Angels built a 6-0 lead through 5 1/2 innings, only to see it evaporate when their relief pitchers proved unable to stop the late-charging A’s.

A single by Mark McGwire and sacrifice fly by Troy Afenir closed the gap to 6-5 before Felix Jose tied it with a single to left with one out in the ninth.

Rickey Henderson slammed the game-winner off Cliff Young (0-1), the fourth Angel pitcher, to improve Oakland’s record against the Angels this season to 3-0 and stretch the A’s lead over the Angels to 13 1/3 games. Oakland maintained a three-game lead over the second-place Chicago White Sox.

The defeat was the Angels’ first in a game they had led after seven innings. They were 41-0 in previous games in which they were ahead that late.

Angel starter Kirk McCaskill yielded only one run in six innings but tired in the sixth. Mike Fetters, Mark Eichhorn and Young were not up to the task of preserving the lead.

An unearned run gave the Angels a jump in the first. Johnny Ray doubled into the right-field corner and took third when Dave Stewart’s first pitch to Max Venable skipped past catcher Ron Hassey for a passed ball.

Venable walked, but Dave Winfield scored Ray with a single to right. Lee Stevens had a chance to create havoc but grounded into a double play, leaving him 0 for 12 since his first-inning home run Friday against Cleveland.

Station-to-station baseball produced another run for the Angels in the second.

Lance Parrish led off with a single to right, extending his hitting streak to seven games. He went to second on Brian Downing’s single to left and advanced to third when Jack Howell walked.

Parrish scored on Donnie Hill’s fly to medium left, brushing past Hassey following a one-bounce throw from left fielder Rickey Henderson.

Singles in the fourth by Downing, Howell and Luis Polonia--the last with two out--increased the Angels’ lead to 3-0.

They continued to hit Stewart hard, adding two more runs in the fifth to pad their lead to 5-0.

Venable opened the inning by beating out a chopper for an infield hit. He went to third on Winfield’s single to left but injured his shoulder or head while sliding past third baseman Jamie Quirk.

He was fine after receiving attention from trainer Ned Bergert and got the chance to rest on the bench after he was thrown out trying to score on Parrish’s grounder to short.

Winfield, who had moved to second on a passed ball, took third on Parrish’s grounder. Winfield and Parrish scored when Downing lined a double to left-center for his third hit in three at-bats.

Joe Klink relieved Stewart before the sixth and ran into trouble when he fumbled Polonia’s chopper to the first-base side of the mound for an error.

Polonia stole second and took third on Hassey’s high throw, which sailed into center field. Polonia scored on Venable’s single to right.

Hassey made some compensation for his error and two passed balls in the sixth when he ended McCaskill’s shutout bid.

Jose Canseco, hitless in two previous at-bats, led off with a walk and moved to second on McGwire’s groundout. Hassey then lined a single to right. Winfield’s throw reached Parrish on one bounce but Parrish could not hold onto it, and Canseco was safe.

With McCaskill showing signs of weariness in the sixth in the form of two walks, Mike Fetters was brought in for the seventh. He gave up a one-out single to Rickey Henderson, who was forced at second by Dave Henderson, and was a spectator when Jose Canseco crushed a one-and-0 pitch well over the 375-foot sign in left-center.

The home run was Canseco’s 29th of the season and seventh in 13 games since the All-Star break.

Angel Notes

Angel television announcer Joe Torre expects the St. Louis Cardinals to decide within a week whether they want him to be their next manager. Torre was interviewed by General Manager Dal Maxvill last Wednesday, but Hal Lanier and Don Baylor have also been interviewed. Lanier and Torre are considered the top candidates.

“At first I wasn’t sure (if he was interested), but the more I started thinking about who I’d be working with, it gets you a little excited,” said Torre, who lost out on jobs with Minnesota, Pittsburgh, the Chicago Cubs and Houston after his 1984 dismissal as manager of the Atlanta Braves. “I always find my way back there, for Old Timers’ games or whatever . . . I’m lucky. The situation here makes it that much tougher if they want me.”

Shortstop Dick Schofield was scratched from the lineup minutes before game time because of soreness in his right shoulder, the result of his dive for ball Sunday. Reliever Bryan Harvey was unavailable Sunday and Monday because of a strained muscle which left him with a stiff neck. His status is day-to-day.

Despite the distance between the top teams in the AL West and the rest of the pack, A’s Manager Tony La Russa says the division is “probably more than a two-team race. There’s plenty of time for clubs to play their way into it.” Outfielder Luis Polonia said a sweep in Oakland was imperative if the Angels are to be among them.

“This series means the whole thing for us,” Polonia said. “If we don’t beat these guys right here, there’s no more chance for us. There’s no more time. We’ve got to go out and do it.”

A re-examination of infielder Mark McLemore’s sore right thumb and wrist found no new damage. He will continue therapy. . . . Bob McClure (sore left elbow) will pitch a simulated game Friday. If all goes well, he will go out on rehabilitation assignment.