ANGELS / THE WEEK AHEAD

TODAY-THURSDAY AT SEATTLE

Schedule: 7 tonight; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 7 p.m. Thursday.

* Television: Channel 9 tonight and Thursday.

* Radio: KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Pitching matchups: Steve Sparks (2-5, 5.24 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia (8-3, 4.48) tonight; Ken Hill (3-6, 4.76) vs. John Halama (5-2, 3.79) Wednesday; Chuck Finley (4-7, 4.18) vs. Jeff Fassero (3-7, 7.14) Thursday.

* Last series: The Angels and Mariners spent three days throwing at each other in April. It boiled over on a Sunday evening when Seattle pitcher Brent Hinchliffe hit Todd Greene, who then charged the mound. Greene, Hinchliffe and--for some still-unknown reason--Tim Belcher, were ejected. In three games, there were five hit batters. Four of those were Angels, including outfielder Orlando Palmeiro--twice.

* About the Mariners: Seattle is trying to keep pace with first-place Texas, and is doing a better job of it than the Angels. The Mariners won five consecutive road games before losing four over the weekend in Cleveland. Outfielder Jay Buhner, out since May 19 with a injured hamstring, was expected back this week, but suffered a setback over the weekend that might delay his return.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY VS. OAKLAND

* Schedule: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday.

* Television: Fox Sports West Friday and Saturday.

* Radio: KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Last series: The A’s won two of three games in Oakland in April. The Angel victory was a 12-1 rout. Tim Salmon had two home runs and drove in six runs in that game. It gave him a league-high 15 RBIs, but he has been out since injuring his left wrist on May 3. The Angels are 18-24 since then.

* About the A’s: First baseman John Jaha hit five home runs in three games against Detroit over the weekend. For those Angel fans who miss Tony Phillips, he was called out on strikes by umpire John Shulock over the weekend and told reporters after the game: “If John Shulock is behind the plate again this season, I’m not playing . . . and I don’t care who knows that.”

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HISTORY LESSON

A look back at this week in Angel history:

June 22, 1998: Tim Salmon walked with the bases loaded in the ninth, giving the Angels a 6-5 victory over the Dodgers and a 3 1/2-game lead over Texas in the West Division.

June 24, 1991: Dave Winfield became the third player in club history to hit for the cycle as the Angels beat Kansas City, 9-4.

June 25, 1967: Rick Reichardt had the first inside-the-park home run in club history in a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City A’s.

June 26, 1973: In a game against the Kansas City Royals, the Angels turned their first triple play when third baseman Chico Ruiz fielded an Amos Otis grounder, stepped on third, threw to second baseman Sandy Alomar, who relayed to first baseman Billy Cowan.

Source: Angel records