Davis Brings Home Good Feelings : Angels: He has a two-run home run, double in 6-4 victory over the Blue Jays.

The Angels passed through customs Wednesday night after their 6-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays with new suits and stylish wardrobes stashed in their suitcases, but it wasn’t until Chili Davis stepped in line that the border patrol detected something unusual.

The Canadian officials closed their eyes to everything else, but they knew that Davis didn’t enter this country with this priceless treasure in his bags.

“Sir, do you have anything to declare.”

Davis: “Yeah, I’m bringing back my long-lost batting stroke.”

Davis, who left California with only one home run and four extra-base hits in his last 19 games, is bringing back a whole suitcase of memories.

He hit a two-run homer in the first inning, added a double in the third inning and raised his batting average to .227, helping the Angels to only their second victory in nine games. In Davis’ last two games, he has produced two homers, two doubles, five RBIs and now leads all designated hitters with 38 RBIs.

“The thing that got me going was my first at-bat (Tuesday),” Davis said of his grounder to second base. “That got me furious. It told me right there I wasn’t aggressive enough.

“I knew I had to change. And in a hurry. It’s only two games, but you could see the difference.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this.”

The Angels, defeating the Blue Jays for the first time in six games, return home sitting in second place, 2 1/2 games behind Kansas City. Perhaps a 2-4 record against the Detroit Tigers and Blue Jays is not a monumental feat, but considering the way those clubs were battering the Angels’ pitching staff, they couldn’t have been more elated.

“I would have danced on top of the table if we had gone 3-3, with the way these two teams were swinging the bats,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said. “The difference has been, they make a mistake, we hit a single. We make a mistake, the ball is in the upper deck.

Said Angel starter Mark Langston (7-1), who yielded three unearned runs in 7 2/3 innings: “(Toronto) destroyed us every game we played, so it was important to us that we salvage something.”

The Angels’ optimism rests in the belief that Davis is back, first baseman J.T. Snow is looking more like the guy that carried the team in April than the one who disappeared in May and third baseman Kelly Gruber is just what they hoped.

“When J.T. got off to his good start,” Rodgers said, “people don’t realize how much that took the heat off everybody. I mean, there were times I was glad they were pitching around Chili and walking him because of how he was struggling.

“Now, it’s time for some others to pick up the load, and I think Chili and Kelly can do that.”

The Angels, who had no idea how Gruber would react when he returned to Toronto, watched him try to prove to the Blue Jays that it was a grave mistake to unload him. Gruber went six for 13 in the series with three runs and hit an eighth-inning homer that silenced a sellout crowd of 50,503 at the SkyDome.

“If a ballplayer had to go through what I did the last year and a half,” Gruber said, “they’d know what I was feeling. This brings back a lot of memories, and builds a lot of confidence.

“I know I can play this game.”

Said Rodgers, who originally planned to give Gruber a day off until seeing his performance the first two games: “I think it really helped him coming here so soon after his rehab. He was ready, and the adrenaline took over. You can just see how his confidence soared.”

Who knows, maybe even the Angels’ beleaguered bullpen got a morale boost with the victory, limiting the Blue Jays to one run after Langston departed.

Steve Frey entered the game with runners on first and second in the ninth, facing switch-hitter Roberto Alomar. Alomar lined to left for the first out, but Frey then walked Devon White and fell behind, 2-and-0, to Luis Sojo. Rodgers came out of the dugout, and Frey braced himself.

“I expected him to get right in my face,” Frey said, “and, boy, I was right. He didn’t do it in a mean sense. There was no cursing. But he also let my know quite loudly what he was thinking, and told me to get aggressive.”

Frey worked Sojo to a full count, but walked him, forcing in a run. Next up: Paul Molitor. On deck: Joe Carter.

With the crowd on its feet screaming, Frey struck out Molitor on a curveball, Carter flied to center, and the Angels finally defeated the Blue Jays.

“We’re an exciting ballclub,” said Tingley, who drove in two runs, “but sometimes, not for all the right reasons.”