BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Percival Gets Into the Running

Left fielder Garret Anderson’s stiffest competition for American League rookie of the year honors will likely come from his own clubhouse, where reliever Troy Percival’s candidacy grows with each outing.

Percival faced six batters in the seventh and eighth innings Monday and retired all six, two on strikeouts, to record his 18th “hold” and help the Angels defeat the Orioles, 5-3.

Some voters might overlook Percival because he doesn’t hold the glamorous closing role in the Angel bullpen--that belongs to Lee Smith--but it would be difficult to ignore these numbers: Percival, who has three saves, has a 1.45 earned-run average with 73 strikeouts and only 17 walks in 62 innings.

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Leadoff batter Tony Phillips, mired in a three-for-34 slump, emerged from a 20-minute team meeting after Sunday’s loss to Boston with a new outlook on life, and it showed--he had three hits, including a homer, and a walk in five at-bats Monday.

“I promised myself yesterday that we had 24 games left and I was going to fight everybody and their mama,” Phillips said. “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll be able to look in the mirror and say I battled everybody, including myself. That’s the way it’s going to be for the next 23 games, no matter what happens.”

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Manager Marcel Lachemann had a feeling it had been awhile since the Angels held a lead because it had been so long since he used Smith and Percival in key late-inning situations. But he was stunned to learn the Angels’ last lead was on Aug. 26, 73 innings ago.

“Holy . . . ,” Lachemann said. “Is that right? Wow!”

Lachemann was then asked if he had mixed feelings when Cal Ripken Jr., the object of much adoration this week as he approaches Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-games record of 2,130 games, homered in the third inning.

“I had none at all--I was ticked,” Lachemann said. “I certainly respect that he’s done something that is very difficult to do, but we want to beat him. I don’t want him to get another hit while we’re here. When we leave, I hope no one can get him out.”

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Jim Edmonds, who missed two games because of a strained lower back muscle, returned to the lineup Monday and had two hits and a run. He entered with one hit in his last 22 at-bats.