Oriole Is Baines of Angel Rookie’s Existence : Baseball: Baltimore’s designated hitter helps beat Leftwich again, 8-2. Pagliarulo has four hits.

Baltimore Oriole designated hitter Harold Baines never knew how close he was to joining the Angels last winter.

He had no idea that he was the cause of heated arguments among officials, debating whether they should trade for him, or acquire Chili Davis as their designated hitter.

He also has no idea how annoying he has become to the Angels this past week, tormenting starter Phil Leftwich once again and leading the Orioles to an 8-2 victory before 18,328 at Anaheim Stadium.

Baines was the man who ruined Leftwich’s start in front of his family in Baltimore last Thursday when he hit a score-tying two-run homer against reliever Ken Patterson, leaving Leftwich with a no-decision.

This time, he decided to punish Leftwich (1-4) personally, while his family watched on TV back home.

First, Baines broke open a scoreless game in the fourth by hitting a 420-foot homer into the right field bullpen for a 2-0 lead. He then hit a two-out, bases-empty single to left field in the sixth, triggering a 4-0 lead.

And once he drove Leftwich from the game after six innings, he opened the eighth with a double against Patterson, en route to a four-run inning that included a homer from Mike Pagliarulo.

While the Angels made the proper decision by choosing Davis, whose 19 homers and 91 RBIs are the most by any designated hitter in the league, Baines has found himself on yet another playoff contender. Their victory allowed the Orioles to remain within six games of the American League East division-leading Toronto Blue Jays.

The Angels fell to a season-high 15 games behind the Chicago White Sox.

The Angel and Oriole rosters each stayed pat Tuesday night when playoff rosters were submitted, while the Orioles had to incur the pain of watching their division strengthen itself with New York’s acquisition of St. Louis closer Lee Smith and Detroit’s pickup of Dodger outfielder Eric Davis.

“As for us, it doesn’t change anything,” Oriole right fielder Mark McLemore said. “We need to win. Nothing other teams do affects us, we need to win.”

While the Orioles made their postseason move Aug. 15 when they acquired third baseman Pagliarulo--who tied his career-high Tuesday with four hits--they continue to rely on Mike Mussina (13-5). Mussina thoroughly dominated the Angels, yielding five hits and one run in 8 2/3 innings.

Mussina retired 21 of 22 batters after Kurt Stillwell’s two-out double in the second inning, and struck out the side in the fourth and fifth innings. His six consecutive strikeouts were one shy of the club record set by Sammy Stewart in his major league debut Sept. 1, 1978, and four shy of Tom Seaver’s major league record of 10 set in 1970 against the San Diego Padres.

The only hit Mussina gave up from the second to the ninth was rookie Tim Salmon’s 29th homer in the seventh inning, his 21st at Anaheim Stadium. It ties the franchise record for most homers at Anaheim Stadium in a single season, matching Reggie Jackson and Don Baylor.