Angels Finally Follow Their Blueprint, 3-0 : Baseball: Finley gives up six hits in 8 1/3 innings and beats the Mariners again.

This was how Chuck Finley and the Angels hoped the season would unfold. Finley would pitch shutouts that would lift the team in the standings and the offense, while lacking much power, would scratch out enough runs to produce low-scoring victories.

The Angels’ 3-0 victory over the Mariners on Monday provided a glimpse of what might have been had their season gone according to plan. Finley gave up six hits in 8 1/3 innings and Joe Grahe got his ninth save in 10 tries to lift the Angels a notch in the standings--but here’s where reality intrudes.

The victory by Finley (3-9) was only his second in his last 17 starts, and was over a team whose 39-62 record is the worst in the major leagues. As for the Angels’ rise in the standings before 19,568 at Anaheim Stadium, it was only from a fifth-place tie into sole possession of fifth.

Chad Curtis singled twice against Erik Hanson (8-13) and scored two runs, and Gary Gaetti added a run-scoring double during the second to lead the Angels to their 12th victory in their last 15 games and ninth in 12 on this home stand. The home stand, which has three games remaining, is the Angels’ most successful since July 4-14, 1985, when they won nine.

Finley left after giving up leadoff singles to Ken Griffey Jr. and Kevin Mitchell during the ninth. Grahe--pitching in two consecutive games for the first time this season--walked Jay Buhner, loading the bases. The Mariners sent Tino Martinez to hit for Lance Parrish, but Martinez struck out swinging and pinch-hitter Dave Cochrane grounded to second to end the game.

The victory extended Finley’s personal winning streak against the Mariners to five games. His other victories this season were over the Blue Jays on April 28 and the Royals on June 13.

Finley benefited from the Mariners’ ineptitude in the early innings, helping him keep the Mariners scoreless. The Angels supported him with a run during the second inning and threatened during the third, but couldn’t increase their lead.

Back-to-back singles by Edgar Martinez and Griffey with one out in the first inning put Finley in trouble, but the Mariners couldn’t capitalize. Kevin Mitchell lofted a fly to center that should have scored Martinez from third, but he left the base too early and was called out on an appeal play.

Finley issued a walk during the second inning to former Angel Lance Parrish, but nothing came of that because Dave Valle bounced into a double play. Finley also walked Harold Reynolds with one out in the third, but Reynolds was caught stealing by Mike Fitzgerald.

A two-out run gave the Angels their lead in the second. Curtis ended a 10-at-bat slump by lining a single to center, and he had a good enough jump on Rene Gonzales’ grounder to avoid a double play and make it to second. Gaetti lined a 2-and-0 pitch to left-center, a drive Henry Cotto appeared to catch only to lose his grip when he hit the fence. Curtis scored, and Gaetti ended up on second. He was stranded there, though, when Fitzgerald grounded to short.

A leadoff double by Gary DiSarcina was wasted by the Angels during the third inning. Luis Polonia moved him to third with a sacrifice, but Luis Sojo and Junior Felix struck out to end the inning.

During the fourth inning, Martinez walked and Griffey followed with a drive to second. Sojo dropped the ball--whether deliberately or accidentally it was impossible to tell--and then threw to first. Gaetti, a transplanted third baseman, didn’t realize he would have had a double play if he had tagged the runner instead of the base, and so the Angels lost that chance. But they still got out of the inning, as Kevin Mitchell popped to short and Buhner struck out.