Finley, Glaus Making Strides; Angels Win, 9-6

It was one small step for Chuck Finley and one giant leap for Troy Glaus Friday night, the veteran pitcher and the kid third baseman combining to help the Angels defeat the Colorado Rockies, 9-6, in an interleague game before 44,122 in Coors Field.

Finley may not have turned his season around with a 5 1/3-inning, eight-hit, five-run performance, but he pitched into the sixth inning, got his first win since June 2, and looked more mechanically sound than he did in his previous three starts, when he gave up 21 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings.

“The last couple of starts, I’ve taken something out of each one that made me better, and I’ve just got to keep moving in that direction,” Finley said. “I’m getting close. I wouldn’t say I’m there yet, but I’m definitely not moving backward.”

Neither is Glaus, who enjoyed his first career multi-homer game after batting only .152 (12 for 79) in his previous 21 games. Glaus followed Garret Anderson’s two-run homer in the first with a towering, 441-foot homer to center, and he added an insurance run with a home run to right in the seventh.

“I may be the only guy in this room that thinks he’s doing OK,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said afterward. “You guys [reporters] have been trying to get him to the minor leagues for a while, but I think he’s doing fine.

“Yes, he’s struggled at the plate at times--young guys are prone to ups and downs--but if he hasn’t saved 150 runs at third base this year. . . . I don’t know how many he’s saved, but he’s done a tremendous job defensively.”

Reggie Williams, who entered the game in the seventh as part of a double switch, also homered in the eighth for the Angels, giving them their second four-homer game of the season. How rare of an outburst is that? The Angels hadn’t scored more than four runs in 55 of their previous 83 games.

But the offense seems to be coming around--the Angels, who have won three in a row and five of seven, have scored 27 runs in their last three games.

Of course, what better place for the bats to come alive than Coors Field, where the thin air at high altitude makes for the most favorable hitting conditions in baseball?

Mo Vaughn, who doubled in a run in the fourth, said Glaus’ second homer “just shot off his bat.” Williams’ opposite-field homer looked like a harmless fly ball into the left-field corner, but it kept going until it cleared the fence over 347-foot sign.

“You’ve got to have a psychiatric evaluation before you sign with these guys and pitch in this park,” Finley said. “I don’t know how they do it.”

The most common formula for success for a starter is to limit the Rockies to five or six runs and hope your bullpen does the job, and that’s what Finley and the Angels did Friday night.

Anderson’s homer, his first since June 2, and Glaus’ homer made it 3-0 in the first, RBIs by Anderson (single) and Orlando Palmeiro (fielder’s choice) made it 5-1 in the third, and consecutive extra-base hits by Darin Erstad (double), Velarde (triple) and Vaughn (double) made it 7-2 in the fourth, bringing an early end to Colorado starter Darryl Kile’s evening.

But Dante Bichette ripped a three-run homer off Finley in the fifth, pulling the Rockies to within 7-5. Vinny Castilla ripped Finley’s next pitch to the wall in center, where Anderson made a leaping catch.

With two on in the sixth, reliever Jarrod Washburn retired Neifi Perez and Darryl Hamilton, and Mark Petkovsek gave up one run in two relief innings. Troy Percival, making his first appearance in a week, gave up two singles before retiring Todd Helton on a fly ball for his 23rd save of the season and 19th in his last 19 opportunities, tying Lee Smith’s franchise record.

Anderson had three hits and three RBIs, Velarde had three hits and three runs, and Erstad had three hits for the Angels, who pounded out 15 hits and have 40 hits in their last three games.

“The one thing Rod [Carew, Angel batting instructor] harped on in the pregame meeting was that you should never think you have enough runs here,” Collins said. “Don’t ever stop.”