Angels Survive Power Display

Not until Ken Griffey Jr.’s fly ball had nestled tightly into right fielder Garret Anderson’s glove, securing the Angels’ 8-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners before 32,797 in the Kingdome, did Manager Terry Collins stop squirming Sunday afternoon.

The Angels scored five runs in the second inning to take what would seem like a commanding 6-1 lead, but the way the Mariners were launching baseballs into the outfield bleachers--they hit solo home runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings--Collins felt about as calm as a white-knuckle airline passenger on a turbulent flight.

“I did not feel comfortable one bit,” Collins said after the Angels salvaged a split of the four-game series and took a half-game lead over Texas in the American League West.

“Unless you score a huge amount of runs, you can never get comfortable against these guys because they can score six runs easily. They still make me real nervous. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about them for two months.”

Nor did the Angels have to worry about Mariner left-hander Randy Johnson on Sunday. Johnson struck out 15 in Seattle’s 2-0 victory Saturday, so it was only natural the Angels came to the Kingdome with a more positive frame of mind Sunday.

Nothing against Seattle starter Bill Swift, who is having a fine season, but the Angels liked their chances a lot better against the Mariner right-hander than they did against the Big Unit.

“The way Randy pitched Saturday, no one could have beaten him,” said Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina, who knocked in two runs Sunday. “So you file it and move on. You wake up in the morning and start anew.”

And what a start it was. Darin Erstad opened the game with a line drive off Swift’s arm for an infield single, Dave Hollins lined a single to right, and Erstad scored on Cecil Fielder’s groundout.

The Mariners countered with a run in the first against Angel starter Jason Dickson, but the Angels bombed Swift in the second, their rally capped by Hollins’ three-run homer to right-center, his 10th.

Seattle trimmed it to 6-3 with a run in the third on Alex Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly and a run in the fourth on Dan Wilson’s homer. The teams exchanged runs in the sixth, Erstad with an RBI single for the Angels and Jay Buhner with a homer for the Mariners, and Joey Cora’s homer pulled Seattle to within 7-5 in the seventh.

But DiSarcina’s RBI groundout in the eighth gave the Angels a little more breathing room, and Troy Percival retired the side in order in the ninth for his 26th save.

“Every run was important, and we were scrapping for everything we could get,” DiSarcina said. “That’s an all-star lineup Seattle has, and everyone here admires that team. No lead is safe, especially in this park, so you have to take advantage of every opportunity you can.”

The Angels did a nice job of creating more opportunities, a phase of their game that has been missing the past two weeks.

Norberto Martin sacrificed runners to second and third before DiSarcina’s single in the second. Martin grounded to short in the sixth, but with a hit-and-run play on, Orlando Palmeiro was able to take second and eventually score on Erstad’s two-out single.

With Matt Walbeck on third and Justin Baughman on first and one out in the eighth, Collins started Baughman on an 0-2 pitch to DiSarcina, who grounded to short. But Walbeck scored because the Angels were able to avoid the double play.

“You can never get enough runs in this park,” Collins said.

This is the way the Angels have to play to remain in the division race. Fielder and Tim Salmon, expected to be the team’s biggest power threats, have been struggling, so there is an extra emphasis on offensive execution and capitalizing on scoring chances.

“Being in first place would be great if the season ended this afternoon, but we still need to put some things together,” Collins said. “We’re not swinging the bats like I know we can.”

Then again, neither are the Rangers.

“I don’t think anyone is going to run away with this division,” Hollins said. “There’s really no dominant team in the division, so we’ll have to keep battling all year.”

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Cooling Off in July

Sunday’s victory was only the Angels’ second in July, continuing a trend of hot and cold months this season. A look: *--*

April 15-11 .577 May 12-15 .444 June 22-6 .786 July 2-7 .222

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