First Is Foremost to Angels : Baseball: Snow’s grand slam fuels a nine-run burst in opening inning of 13-4 victory over the Red Sox.

Brian Anderson was sitting sullenly in the Angel dugout Monday night, wondering how his day could possibly get any worse.

It started when he got to the clubhouse and heard the news. Cleveland Indian outfielder Albert Belle was suspended for 10 days for using a corked bat.

Belle not only is Anderson’s favorite player on his hometown team, but a player whom he unabashedly idolizes. He has posters of Belle in his room at home.

“I used to think the guy was God,” Anderson said. “That’s how much I think of him. He’s always been my favorite. And now this.”

If that wasn’t enough, the Boston Red Sox came out and scored two runs against Anderson in the first inning.

He sat slumped on the bench, but before he could brood further, something wonderful happened.

The Angels erupted for nine runs in their biggest first-inning in franchise history, resulting in a 13-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox before 17,019 at Anaheim Stadium.

It was an inning that featured absolutely everything. The Angels had three walks. They had a strikeout. They had a single. They had three doubles. They had two triples. And they had a grand slam, courtesy of first baseman J.T. Snow. Most amazing is that the Angels scored eight of those runs with two outs.

The Angels had not scored that many runs in a single inning since May 8, 1989, and had not had a bigger inning at Anaheim Stadium since July 10, 1982, against the New York Yankees.

Snow’s grand slam was the first of his career, and the first by an Angel in the first inning since Bobby Grich on Sept. 22, 1985.

It was an inning that not only sent rookie pitcher Tim Vanegmond to the showers--after yielding four hits, three walks and seven earned runs in only two-thirds of an inning--but might have sent him packing his bags for triple-A Pawtucket with a 12.60 earned-run average.

Angel center fielder Chad Curtis and designated hitter Chili Davis were the only players who didn’t reach base against Vanegmond, but Curtis made amends.

Curtis greeted reliever Jose Melendez with a double to left field in the first inning, hit a home run in the fourth inning against Melendez, and then said farewell to Melendez with a two-run homer in the sixth. And to show it was nothing personal, Curtis singled against reliever Chris Howard in the seventh inning for his fourth hit of the game.

“I was due for a night like this,” Curtis said. “I feel re-juiced since the All-Star break. I wasn’t worn down so much physically, but mentally.”

Then, there was right fielder Jim Edmonds, who began the game in a miserable slump, batting .132 since June 26.

It had been going so badly that he picked up the telephone Sunday night and spoke with Randy Kapano, his Little League and high school coach. No one outside the family knows Edmonds better than Kapano, and he told Edmonds he had been waiting for his call.

“He’s the guy who got me to this point,” Edmonds said, “and he knows when I need help.”

Edmonds spent an hour with Kapano on Monday morning, taking so many swings in the cage that his hands had blisters. Edmonds showed up Monday night feeling as though he had conquered his problems. A few hours later, he was proved right, going three for four with two doubles, a triple, and two RBIs.

It was that kind of night for the Angels, who also ended their Monday jinx, winning on Monday for the first time since June 21, 1993, after losing the previous 15 times.

Who would have imagined that the Angels could pound out 13 runs and 14 hits without a hit by Davis, Bo Jackson or injured Tim Salmon?

In all, it was quite a memorable day for Anderson (6-4), who shut down the Red Sox for the next six innings, preventing them from entertaining any crazy notions. He gave up nine hits and four earned runs in 7 2/3 innings, winning for the first time since June 17.

Perhaps it might have even been enough to curtail any immediate plans of bringing up left fielder Garrett Anderson and third baseman Eduardo Perez before the start of their next trip on July 28, although it still is under strong consideration.