Snow Comes to Rescue in Angel Victory : Baseball: He ends slump with four hits and four RBIs in 6-4 triumph over Orioles.

The Angels bid good riddance to the torrid Boston Red Sox, welcomed Legend In His Own Time Cal Ripken, then promptly ended their three-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory over Baltimore Thursday night at Anaheim Stadium.

First baseman J.T. Snow hoisted the Angels on his back, making sure the skid didn’t reach four games.

Snow seemed an unlikely leader, mired as he was in one of his worst slumps of the season. But four hits and four runs batted it did the trick against Baltimore. He singled three times and hit a two-run homer.

Biggest of all was his seventh-inning, two-run single off Oriole reliever Arthur Rhodes that broke a 4-4 tie.

With the Oriole infield at medium depth in hopes of turning an inning-ending double play, Snow sneaked a sharply hit grounder between Ripken and third baseman Jeff Manto.

Two runs scored and the Angels had a 6-4 lead. Starter Chuck Finley (13-8) faced one batter in the eighth, then Manager Marcel Lachemann turned the lead over to the bullpen for safekeeping.

Troy Percival bailed out the Angels in the eighth, retiring the three batters he faced after Finley gave up a leadoff single to Bobby Bonilla. Percival has given up one earned run in his last 22 appearances covering 28 1/3 innings.

Lee Smith pitched a scoreless ninth, and with the paid crowd of 22,796 standing and cheering, got pinch hitter Kevin Bass to ground out to end the game. Smith earned his 31st save.

Lachemann picked up his 100th victory as Angel manager.

“It has absolutely no significance to me,” Lachemann said. “That’s not important. The victory was the important thing.”

He wasn’t entirely happy with the Angels’ performance, however. Again, they were sloppy in the field and left far too many runners in scoring position for his taste.

“We needed a win and we got it,” Lachemann said after the Angels extended their lead to 8 1/2 games over second-place Texas in the American League West. “But we still need to play better.”

Snow, whose four hits and four RBIs equaled career highs set earlier this season, had been having a miserable home stand. He went into Thursday’s game batting .148 (4 for 27). He broke an 0-for-16 slump with a homer in Wednesday’s game. His average dipped to .296, the lowest since June 30. He had hit better than .300 for 36 consecutive games until Tuesday.

“Lately, I’ve been in a little funk,” Snow said after raising his average to .302. “I haven’t been aggressive enough, but it’s starting to come around.”

Snow’s towering two-run homer down the left-field line and Jorge Fabregas’ run-scoring single drove Baltimore starter Jamie Moyer from the game with no outs in the fourth.

It was Snow’s 18th homer this season, but only the third he has hit right-handed. His four RBIs gave him 85, tying him for second on the club with Tim Salmon.

“He continues to drive in big runs,” Lachemann said.

Said Snow: “You never know who it’s going to be. Tonight, it was my turn. That’s the thing with this team. You don’t feel the pressure to do it every night.”

Certainly, the Angels were grateful for the offensive push, and Finley provided dependable, if unspectacular, pitching.

In his most-recent start, Finley ended the Angels’ last losing streak with a gritty, eight-inning performance in a 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees last Saturday.

As in his last start, Finley didn’t made anyone forget Cy Young, but he persevered long enough to get the victory. He gave up four runs and eight hits, including a season-high two home runs, with five strikeouts and three walks in seven-plus innings.

It was just what the Angels needed.

“We’ve gone through a little dead spell, but we’ve still been in just about every game,” Finley said. “We’ve gotten spoiled because we’ve played so well in the past. [The pitching staff] knows the guys are tired and sometimes when you get mentally tired you get physically tired.

“Right now, we’re lucky we’ve had a cushion.”

Tim Salmon, Chili Davis and Snow, the heart of the Angels’ order, provided Finley with four runs through four innings. And, with the exception of catcher Chris Hoiles, Finley handled the Orioles without much trouble.

In the second, Hoiles’ two-run homer gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead. In the sixth, following Ripken’s run-scoring sacrifice fly, Hoiles hit a bases-empty homer.