Baltimore Rolls Over Angels, 4-1

No one could accuse Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro of pessimism. Not with the Orioles 24 1/2 games out of first place and Palmeiro talking about the playoffs.

He drove in four runs to back up his words Friday. The Angels, meanwhile, spoke softly and carried even softer sticks.

Palmeiro’s offense was plenty, as the Orioles scored a 4-1 victory in front of 34,618 at Edison Field. It was the Orioles’ ninth consecutive victory and the Angels’ 11th loss in 14 games, which trimmed their lead over the Texas Rangers in the American League West Division to half a game.

No one in the Angel clubhouse was talking about the playoffs.

“I know it’s a cliche, but we just have to keep playing hard every day,” shortstop Gary DiSarcina said. “We have to take every little thing we can get.”

Starting pitcher Jason Dickson held the sizzling Orioles to two runs through six innings. The Angels gave him one run.

“I kind of believe hitting is contagious,” said outfielder Garret Anderson, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games. “I’ve felt that before. You’re around each other every day. You see what each other is doing.”

The Angels seem immune these days. They had three hits in an 8-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday. They had six hits Friday.

The heart of the Angel order--Jim Edmonds, Tim Salmon and Cecil Fielder--has done little in the last week. Edmonds is three for his last 24, Salmon, after getting two hits Friday, is six for his last 24 and Fielder is four for his last 22.

Fielder stranded a runner at second base in the first and sixth inning.

Even Anderson, the Angels’ hottest hitter, was off. He extended his hitting streak, which is two short of his career high, with a seventh-inning single. But he struck out with the bases loaded in the eighth.

Most of the Orioles weren’t much better in the clutch. But Palmeiro was, and he was all they needed.

Palmeiro singled home Eric Davis in the first in the first and doubled home Brady Anderson in the third. That was all Dickson gave up in 6 2/3 innings.

Dickson mixed pitches and location to keep the Orioles off balance. He gave up five hits and walked five batters, including the first two in the sixth. He wiggled out, making a key 2-2 pitch to Cal Ripken Jr., getting him to chase an outside pitch with runners on second and third and one out.

In the eighth, with Greg Cadaret pitching, Palmeiro hit a two-run homer, just over Anderson’s glove, for a 4-1 lead. It was the 300th home run of his career.

“Everybody here feels good about it,” Palmeiro said. “We have beaten some good teams, teams that are ahead of us. We’re not beating teams like Tampa Bay, we’re beating teams like Texas, Boston, Toronto. We’ve beat some very good teams.

“We have no excuses. If we don’t get to the playoffs, it’s our own fault.”

The Orioles, with a payroll of more than $70 million, were buried in the AL East at the All-Star break, 26 1/2 games behind the Yankees. With their aging roster, things didn’t look too encouraging.

They have not lost since the break and are 9 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox, the wild-card leaders.

Things have been going so well that the Orioles even got a strong performance from pitcher Doug Drabek, who had not gone beyond the fifth inning in his five previous starts and was 0-4 in that span.

Drabek went five again Friday, but he retired 13 consecutive batters until DiSarcina singled to start the sixth.

DiSarcina stole second and scored on Dave Hollins’ single. Norm Charlton replaced Drabek and got Edmonds to fly out. Pete Smith replaced Charlton and, after walking Salmon, got Fielder to ground out.