BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Lachemann Keeps Things in Perspective

The Angels are mired in their worst slump of the season, having lost six consecutive games, but Manager Marcel Lachemann, taking notice of New York City’s homeless and urban blight, was hardly feeling sorry for himself Thursday night.

“I don’t mean this to sound wrong, but this is the type of city where you drive back to your hotel and you’re wondering what in the world you’re bitching and moaning about,” Lachemann said.

“You see some people out there who are really scuffling, and it puts this in perspective. You do your job the best you can and you enjoy life. If you can’t enjoy being in a pennant race, you can’t enjoy anything.”

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The Yankees announced Thursday that pitcher Dave Pavlas, who participated in spring-training replacement games for the team, would be among those called up from triple-A Columbus, Ohio, when rosters are expanded today.

Yankee players reacted to the situation with much more diplomacy than the Dodgers, who vented their anger and voiced their opposition when former replacement player Mike Busch was recently called up.

“Fans don’t want to hear about scabs and replacement players or the union being compromised,” pitcher David Cone said. “They don’t want to hear about details, they just want to see baseball. We’ll deal with it in a professional manner. We don’t have to like each other, we just have to play together.”

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Marty Springstead, executive director of umpiring for the American League, met with Lachemann in New York to discuss this weekend’s series against the Boston Red Sox, with whom the Angels engaged in a bean-ball war Aug. 22 in Anaheim.

“We’re going to talk with both managers and tell them we don’t want anyone getting hurt now, with both teams leading their divisions,” Springstead said. “We just don’t want things to get out of hand like they did in Anaheim.”

The Aug. 22 game included three hit batsmen, one ejection and several arguments, but, remarkably, there was no bench-clearing brawl.

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So how did Tony Phillips’ man-to-bat conversation go Wednesday night? The struggling leadoff hitter, who brought his bat with him back to the hotel after a loss to the Yankees, wouldn’t say, exactly.

“But we’re going to try to establish a better relationship than we have now,” Phillips said. “And the only way to do that is to spend some time together . . . I hope my wife doesn’t get jealous.”

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It wasn’t the circumstances he hoped to pitch in, but reliever Troy Percival finally got into a game, throwing a scoreless eighth inning in the Angels’ 11-6 loss Thursday night. Because the Angels haven’t needed a set-up man lately, Percival hadn’t pitched in a week.

“That’s the longest I’ve ever gone without pitching,” said Percival, who has made 50 appearances. “There have been times this season when I’d have begged for a day off, but I was itching to get in there. I was going nuts trying to keep my intensity up.”