Parrish’s Lesson Pays Off at Plate : Angels: Catcher shows up early to hit off a tee, then tees off on Baltimore with two hits, including a home run.

When you’re slumping like Lance Parrish has for the past two weeks--the Angel catcher’s seven-for-46 skid dropped his average to .254 entering Saturday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles--it’s time to get back to the basics.

That means getting to the park early and hitting baseballs off a tee. Yep, just like those pre-Little League 6-year-olds at your neighborhood park.

Saturday afternoon, Parrish could be found near the Anaheim Stadium backstop, engaged in a one-on-none T-ball game under the supervision of Manager Doug Rader.

Rader didn’t want to get into the specifics as to what they were working on. “You don’t want to get into mechanics--no one wants to read about that stuff,” he said.

But a few hours later, Parrish put his lesson to good use, collecting two hits in four at-bats to help the Angels defeat the Orioles, 6-3.

Parrish had an RBI single to left field during a five-run first inning and added a towering home run in the sixth. It was Parrish’s fourth homer of the season and gave him the team lead in that department.

“When you look at the numbers, yes, I guess I’ve been in a slump, but I haven’t felt like I’ve been in a slump,” Parrish said. “I’ve just been hitting the ball at people. I’ve been striking out too many times, but I’ve stayed aggressive. It’s nice to see the ball fall in for a change.”

And out. The Bob Milacki fastball that Parrish deposited into the left-center field bleachers was his first homer since April 24 and gave Parrish his fourth run batted in in his past 16 games. Parrish knocked in four runs during the Angels’ first five games.

“I swung the bat well in spring training and did real well early in the season, and all of a sudden I ran into a period when I couldn’t get any hits or make anything happen,” Parrish said. “But I’ve never felt uncomfortable, and it’s not like I’ve been overmatched. Things are coming around. To me, it’s just a matter of time.”

With the Orioles in town, the time seemed right for Parrish, who has become quite the bird-lover in his 14 major-league seasons, to snap out of his slump.

Parrish batted .371 (13 for 35) with three homers and seven RBIs against Baltimore last season and has hit 27 homers against the Orioles, the most he has against any major-league team.

“That’s kind of amazing--I have hit them well,” Parrish said. “But I can’t explain why. It’s just one of those things.”

Parrish would have as difficult a time trying to explain the Angels’ recent offensive problems. Compared to some teammates, Parrish has been on a tear.

Dave Winfield entered Saturday night’s game in a five-for 42 (.119) slump. Gary Gaetti was two for 18 (.111), and Junior Felix was four for 34 (.118). But Parrish wasn’t about to pass blame for the team’s 3-8 record over the past two weeks.

“In order for us to be a winning ballclub, I’m going to have to have more than one night a week like this,” Parrish said.