Boskie Tough to Beat : Baseball: He’s 3-0 with Angels after beating Orioles, 6-5, with a little help from Salmon’s slam.

Now that Shawn Boskie has gone head to head with the best pitchers in the American League--Toronto’s David Cone, Kansas City’s Kevin Appier, New York’s Jack McDowell and Baltimore’s Mike Mussina--the Angel right-hander is getting the hang of this whole David vs. Goliath thing.

“You’ve got to be real sharp or you’re done,” Boskie said.

Boskie was neither Monday night against the Baltimore Orioles. He gave up four runs in the second inning and was hit hard through the seventh.

But Boskie somehow kept his team in the game long enough for the Angels to record a 6-5 victory in front of an announced crowd of 15,413 in Anaheim Stadium.

Tim Salmon erased 4-0 deficit with a grand slam in the third inning, Spike Owen tripled and scored on Damion Easley’s double to break a 4-4 tie in the sixth, and J.T. Snow homered with the bases empty in the seventh, providing the winning margin.

And now Boskie, 28, who was traded by two teams and released by another in 1994, can boast that he has gone up against a fearsome foursome of A.L. starters, including Mussina on Monday night, and hasn’t lost to one of them.

The former first-round pick of the Chicago Cubs beat Cone on May 1, registered no-decisions against Appier on May 13 and McDowell last Wednesday, and beat Mussina Monday to improve to 3-0, though his earned-run average went from 2.88 to 3.27.

“I’ve always been told I have great stuff, and people have been waiting for this to happen,” said Boskie, who gave up eight hits, struck out two and walked none in seven innings. “I didn’t feel ill-equipped, I’m just making better pitches consistently. Another part of it is the guys [in this league] don’t know me.

“I think as long as I stay humble, I’ll do reasonably well. If I get confident, things could fall apart. Hopefully they won’t.”

Things appeared to be unraveling in the second inning Monday, when Boskie threw 39 of his 112 pitches during the Orioles’ four-run outburst, which was highlighted by Brady Anderson’s two-run single and Jeffrey Hammonds’ two-run double.

But Boskie shut out the Orioles over the next five innings thanks to some good defense--and good fortune.

Cal Ripken Jr. and Harold Baines each singled with two outs in the fifth, but first baseman Snow bailed Boskie out with an outstanding, over-the-head grab of Chris Hoiles’ popup in foul territory, the third time this season Snow has ranged far down the right-field line to make such a play.

Shortstop Gary DiSarcina made a diving stop of Jeff Manto’s sixth-inning grounder up the middle and threw out Manto, then ended the inning with a grab of Brett Barberie’s liner.

Anderson, a former UC Irvine standout, opened the seventh with a liner--right at DiSarcina--and Tony Phillips made a nice, running catch of Rafael Palmeiro’s liner to left to end the inning.

“You’re going to see hard-hit outs like that, that’s part of the game,” Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “But he was making them swing the bat. There’s no defense for ball four, but there’s a defense for hard-hit balls. They can be hit at someone.”

Troy Percival replaced Boskie in the eighth and gave up a bases-empty homer to Baines, and Lee Smith came on in the ninth to record his 12th save, but not without a scare.

Barberie reached on an infield single with one out and Anderson walked, but Smith got pinch-hitter Kevin Bass to hit into a game-ending, 4-6-3 double play to close the Angels’ 11th come-from-behind win in 20 victories this season.

“A lot of guys who give up four early runs and are going against Mussina would pack it in, figure the day was over,” Lachemann said of Boskie. “But he kept fighting, putting zeros up, and gave us a chance to get back in it.”

Salmon capitalized on that chance with a grand slam that was only his seventh career hit against Mussina in 25 at-bats. But four of those hits off the Oriole right-hander are homers.

“All these come-from-behind wins are great, but it all starts with the pitching,” said Salmon, whose hit followed singles by DiSarcina and Phillips and a walk to Jim Edmonds. “Shawn battled, stuck up a few zeros, then we get a couple of hits and, boom, one swing and we’re back in the game.”