Angels Get Results From The Trade : Baseball: Embattled Snow homers and Springer gets victory in 7-2 rout of Mariners.

It still is known around these parts simply as The Trade.

The fans at Anaheim Stadium have forgiven the Angels for giving away Devon White. They finally understood the reason for leaving closer Bryan Harvey unprotected. And it took time, but most even exonerated the Angels for not re-signing Nolan Ryan.

But trading away Jim Abbott to the New York Yankees for the likes of J.T. Snow, Russ Springer and Jerry Nielsen? Hey, those weren’t letters to exchange pleasantries that were sent to the Angels’ offices. They were death threats.

The Angels didn’t dare gloat after their 7-2 victory Tuesday night over the Seattle Mariners, but for at least an evening before 20,662 fans, they felt a bit vindicated.

Snow hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot in the second inning that ended his 21 at-bat hitless streak.

Springer won his first game of the season, yielding seven hits and two earned runs, for his first major league victory since July 10, 1993.

And Nielsen? Well, who knows? He’s still pitching for double-A Midland in the Texas League.

“It felt so great,” Snow said, “because it had really been getting frustrating. I mean, it’s not easy to look up and see you’re hitting .180.

“But I think it made it even more special because of what Russ did too. It’s been a couple of years, but it’s like you hear about that trade like it just happened yesterday.”

The victory pushed the Angels (31-41) to within 2 1/2 games of the division-leading Texas Ranger, and one-half game of Seattle (30-39).

“I used to tell everyone that someone in our division would finish over .500,” Mariner Manager Lou Piniella said, “but I’m not so sure about that anymore.”

Snow, recalled June 4 from triple-A Vancouver, entered the night batting .188 with just one extra-base hit and two runs batted in. Yet, it had been exactly a week since he produced a hit, the same kind of slump he endured a year ago.

“Obviously, you’d like to come up and put up numbers right away,” Snow said, “but (Manager) Marcel Lachemann took a lot of the pressure off. He just told me to relax, that I don’t have to carry the team.

“I didn’t feel that urge to get down on myself. It was so different than last year. When I first started struggling last year, I started changing everything.

“Everybody started getting a hold of me. Try this. Try that. Do this. Do that. It finally all got to me.

“Last year, when things went bad, I started to have my doubts. This year, I just kept believing in myself, and look at what happened.”

Snow’s two-run homer proved for awhile to be all of the offensive support Springer needed. He yielded only four hits the first six innings, and the only damage incurred was Reggie Jefferson’s solo homer in the second inning.

Springer, pitching with a 5-1 lead courtesy of Tim Salmon’s 15th homer and a two-run single by Gary DiSarcina, began to falter in the seventh. Jefferson led off with a homer, and after Tino Martinez and Luis Sojo singled, Springer was removed for left-handed reliever Bob Patterson.

Patterson retired pinch-hitter Bill Hasselman on a fly ball to left field. Lachemann then summoned right-handed reliever Mike Butcher, but he walked pinch-hitter Keith Mitchell, loading the bases with one out. That brought Felix Fermin to the plate, and Ken Griffey Jr. to the on-deck circle. But Fermin grounded into a double play.

Griffey went two for three with a double, but failed to hit his 31st homer. He has gone four consecutive games without a homer, his third-longest drought of the season. Yet, perhaps the greatest obstacle to preventing him from encroaching Roger Maris’ record of 61 homers is the looming players’ strike. Several players said Tuesday that they have been told to anticipate an Aug. 16 strike date.

“That doesn’t bother me,” Griffey said. “My dad struck in ’81 for me. He struck for the things I have now. We’ll be striking for the guys coming up . . . .

“The only people who worry about (the home run record) are you guys anyway. I just come to do the best job I can, and if a homer happens, it happens.”