No Victory Too Small These Days : Angels: Owen’s triple drives in winning run in come-from-behind victory and touches off emotional celebration.

It was a celebration worthy of a World Series or a championship series, or at least a victory in the final days of a pennant race.

So maybe it was only a victory in July by a team that’s two week’s worth of games under .500, but that didn’t stop Spike Owen from sprinting past third base and flinging his body into a mob of waiting teammates who embraced him like a family hugging a soldier returning from war.

Maybe the Angels should be excused for this demonstration of emotion. On the doorstep of yet another disappointment, they tied Saturday’s game in the ninth inning on Bo Jackson’s home run and then won it when Owen tripled to score Gary DiSarcina from first.

The 4-3 victory over the Orioles marked the first time the Angels have come from behind to win in the ninth inning since May 20. It came against baseball’s save leader, Lee Smith. And, as Manager Marcel Lachemann so succinctly put it, “the wins haven’t been coming easy.”

Fifteen minutes after his game-winning hit, Owen, a 12-year veteran, was still smiling like a Little Leaguer who had just hit his first home run.

“This was a great win for us tonight and hopefully it will give us a lift that will turn things around,” he said. “This is such a big home stand for us. We’re only six games out and we can jump back in it, or maybe get buried, in a hurry.

“We’ve struggled and it feels good to have a little fun.”

Actually, the fun started six weeks ago for Owen, who spent the first two months of the season trying to adjust to role-player status. Then, when Damion Easley went on the disabled list with an inflamed shoulder June 5, Owen was back in the starting lineup, just like the good old days with Montreal, Boston and Seattle.

In April and May, however, he walked in the clubhouse each day and approached the lineup card on the wall like a guy looking at the winning lottery numbers in the morning paper. He didn’t really expect to see his name, but it was OK to hope, OK to fantasize.

“I’ll tell you, this year I’ve really developed a respect and an appreciation for all the role players I’ve played with over the years,” he said. “It’s not easy to keep yourself ready to play when you’re mostly sitting. It was a big adjustment for me.

“You can’t say I was happy with that role, but I knew this team was going to be going with the younger players. So I just prepared for the time when I’d get my chance.”

Apparently, he prepared well. He has hit safely in 28 of his last 39 starts and has nine runs batted in during his last seven starts.

“I can’t say enough about the way he’s played,” Lachemann said. “He’s a pro in every sense of the word. He’s not only produced, but he’s played with such professionalism and enthusiasm.”

Saturday night was a case in point on both counts. After Jackson tied the score with an opposite-field bases-empty homer, DiSarcina sent a shot up the middle that caromed off the glove of Cal Ripken Jr. and into center field for a single.

Professionalism? Owen worked Smith to a 2-2 count, fouling off a pitch with two strikes to keep the at-bat alive.

“It was a fastball away,” he said. “I think it was probably a ball, but it was too close to risk it at that point. I was pretty lucky to get a piece of it.”

Then he got another outside fastball and went with it, sending a slicing line drive that landed five feet inside the left-field line and bounced into the corner.

“After I saw the ball was fair and that we got a favorable bounce off the rail and away from (Baltimore left fielder Brady) Anderson, I was tracking Gary the rest of the way. When I saw the catcher come up the line, I knew we had it.”

Enthusiasm? Owen literally jumped for joy and didn’t come down until his teammates relaxed their grip so he could wrap his arms around DiSarcina.

“Hey, when you win in the ninth, it’s always exciting,” he said sheepishly. “We’ve been scuffling lately, so this was pretty satisfying. Maybe this is something we can build on.”

Maybe. And if not, it’s a moment they can save for the 1994 highlight film. After all, there haven’t been that many.