New Season, Same Old Angels : Baseball: 51,145 see them waste several opportunities in a 5-4 loss to the Tigers in season opener.

Many have tabbed the Detroit Tigers the least of an American League East filled with beasts, and you won’t get much of an argument from their manager, Sparky Anderson.

Asked what his club had to do to contend in his division, Anderson said, “Well, if we can find a way to murder the Yankees, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles. . . . I tell you what--I’ll trade those three teams for three teams in your division (the AL West), any three.”

Yes, even the lowly Tigers, in a cost-cutting and rebuilding mode, would look pretty good in the AL West, as they showed Wednesday night. They beat the Angels, 5-4, in the season opener before an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 51,145, bolstered by a $1-per-seat offer.

And if the Angels thought the Tigers were tough, now they have to travel to Toronto for a four-game series against one of the league’s best teams, the Blue Jays, who opened the season with a 13-1 victory over Oakland on Wednesday.

Even so, Angel designated hitter Chili Davis sees no reason to panic.

“Overall, I think we’re a much better ballclub than last year, especially offensively,” he said. “The biggest thing we need is for our young guys to gain some self-confidence. These guys are two and three years in the making, and it’s time for them to jump up and show they belong.”

The Tigers relied on two long balls from two players long on experience, first baseman Cecil Fielder and designated hitter Juan Samuel, Wednesday night.

Samuel hit a three-run homer against Angel starter Chuck Finley in the fourth inning, and Fielder’s two-run homer, a laser over the center-field fence against Russ Springer in the top of the eighth, was the difference.

That gave Detroit a 5-2 lead, but the Angels didn’t go down without a fight. Davis doubled and scored on Eduardo Perez’s triple, and Perez came home on J.T. Snow’s groundout to make it 5-4 in the eighth.

With one out in the ninth, Tony Phillips hit a grounder up the middle, a play on which Tiger shortstop Chris Gomez made a diving stop, got up and threw to first.

Phillips was called out by replacement umpire Mike Pilato on a close play, and as Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann came out to argue, Phillips had to be restrained by first-base Coach Joe Maddon.

“Guys are going to miss calls, but I don’t think you’ll see many big league umpires miss a call like that,” Phillips said. “These guys are just in over their heads.”

Lachemann sent left-hander Garret Anderson up to pinch-hit for Damion Easley, but when Sparky Anderson brought in left-hander Buddy Groom, Lachemann countered with right-handed hitting Rex Hudler. Hudler then popped to second to end the game.

“That’s a hell of a a deal for $1,” said Finley, who cruised through the first three innings before Samuel’s homer. “It was a good game to watch--it went down to the wire, there was a lot of timely hitting, some home runs.”

And a lot of blown opportunities.

With the Angels trailing, 3-2, Gary DiSarcina led off the seventh with a double to right-center. Phillips, perhaps a little eager at the plate, swung at reliever Joe Boever’s first pitch and popped to third, failing to advance DiSarcina.

Easley then flied to shallow right field and Anderson brought in left-hander Brian Bohanon to face Jim Edmonds, who struck out on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.

The Angels were probably angry at not scoring in the third inning, as well.

With Phillips on third and Easley on second, Anderson made a gutsy decision, intentionally walking Davis to load the bases for Tim Salmon, who had hit a towering home run over the left-center field fence in the second.

But Detroit starter Mike Moore struck out Salmon on a nasty slider and then got Perez to hit into a forceout to end the inning.

The Angels pitched their way out of a few jams too, particularly in the sixth inning when Mike Bielecki hit Fielder, walked Travis Fryman and gave up an infield single to Samuel to load the bases.

Bob Patterson struck out Bobby Higginson, and Lachemann brought in Springer, the hard-throwing right-hander, to face Gomez, who hit into 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Finley, who was bidding for career victory No. 100, was in command through the first three innings, striking out five consecutive batters during one stretch and allowing only two singles.

But the left-hander ran into trouble in the fourth when Rudy Pemberton led off with a hard grounder up the middle, which turned into a double when shortstop DiSarcina dived for the ball and deflected it into shall left-center field.

Pemberton advanced to third on Fielder’s groundout and Fryman walked. Samuel then lined a 3-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a three-run homer and a 3-1 lead.

Angel catcher Andy Allanson trimmed the deficit to 3-2 with a bases-empty homer to left-center in the fourth.