Schedule Gives Team a Break

After a grueling 10-game stretch against Cleveland, Boston and New York, the schedule appears to have smiled on the Angels, who play their next 12 games against one of baseball’s worst teams, Kansas City, and one of the worst teams since the All-Star break, Minnesota.

But that doesn’t necessarily increase the Angels’ chances of making up ground in the American League wild-card race, because the schedule also has given Oakland, the team the Angels are chasing, a hearty pat on the back.

The A’s play their next 12 games against lowly Baltimore and Tampa Bay, who are a combined 59 games under .500. After playing the Royals and Twins, the Angels, who are six games behind Oakland, close the season with 19 games against AL West teams, including seven against the A’s.

“We can’t afford to play bad the rest of the year, no matter who we’re playing,” pitcher Jarrod Washburn said. “It doesn’t matter how many fans are in the stadium, who they’re rooting for, all of us want to play in October, and if we lose, it decreases our chances. We have to treat every game as a must-win situation.”

Manager Mike Scioscia acknowledges that as the season winds down, each game becomes a little more significant, but he doesn’t want the Angels to take the field thinking that way. He wants their approach to be the same in September as it was in April.

“If we’re attacking this right, there shouldn’t be a sense of urgency to one game,” Scioscia said. “What are you going to do, play 90% every day, then 100% when there’s a sense of urgency?

“Professionalism in this game comes from playing the same way every day, whether you’re 20 games up or 20 games out. You worry about your own club. If Oakland wins today, does that change our outlook? No.

“There’s going to come a time around Sept. 15-20, if you’re in a situation where you need help to get into the playoffs, when that will be an issue. But overall, it doesn’t make much sense to dwell on it.”

*

First, it was Johnny Damon. Then Jermaine Dye. Could Kansas City first baseman Mike Sweeney be the next Royal to go to Oakland? Sweeney, who returns tonight after serving a 10-game suspension for sparking a bench-clearing brawl against Detroit, admits the three have already discussed a reunion.

“I spoke with Johnny and Jermaine,” Sweeney said. “Both have expressed a desire to have me over there with them. Right now, it’s out of my hands. My heart still has the desire to spend my career in Kansas City. But I want to experience a winning team.”

Royal General Manager Allard Baird said he understands Sweeney’s feelings and doesn’t view Sweeney’s conversations with Damon and Dye as tampering.

Sweeney, who can become a free agent after the 2002 season, seems doubtful the Royals can transform themselves into playoff contenders. Two weeks ago he criticized the character of several teammates, charging that fewer than half could be considered “winners.”

Now, he sees his two ex-teammates--and two good friends--playing meaningful games in a pennant race and acknowledges more than a twinge of envy.

“It’s tugging at my heart a little bit,” said Sweeney, who is batting .311 with 25 homers and 82 runs batted in. “I told them, ‘You guys keep going because I want a couple of playoff tickets.”’

*

For a brief moment Sunday night, it appeared catcher Jorge Fabregas considered stretching his ninth-inning double against the Yankees into a triple.

Fabregas sped up as he approached second but suddenly stopped--wisely.

He then scored the tying run on David Eckstein’s single, and the Angels eventually won, 7-6, in 10 innings.

“I thought about a triple for a second there,” Fabregas said. “I figured, let’s play the game smart. If I would have gotten thrown out at third, I would have probably had to pack my bags.”

*

The Angels, who optioned reliever Mark Lukasiewicz to triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday night, are expected to either activate Jose Nieves off the disabled list or recall a position player from triple-A Salt Lake--infielders Jose Fernandez, Trent Durrington, Justin Baughman or Larry Barnes are the most likely candidates--to bolster their bench.

ON DECK

ANGELS’ RAMON ORTIZ (11-7, 4.08 ERA)

vs.

ROYALS’ PAUL BYRD

(6-5, 3.17 ERA) Opponent--Kansas City Royals, three games.

Site--Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

Tonight--5 PDT.

TV--Channel 9 tonight and Thursday night.

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

Records--Angels 69-62, Royals 51-80.

Record vs. Royals--3-0.

Update--The Angels have played in an American League-leading 42 one-run games, going 23-19. Of the team’s 131 games, 90 have been decided by three runs or less, and the Angels are 49-41 in those games. In addition, they are 61-0 when leading after eight innings. Ortiz has given up two earned runs and pitched six innings or more in six of his last seven starts, the only exception when he departed an Aug. 11 game against Toronto in the second inning because of a sore shoulder. The Royals have lost six consecutive games. They rank 13th in the league in home runs, last in walks and last in on-base percentage.

Wednesday, 5 p.m.--Pat Rapp (5-10, 4.37) vs. Jeff Suppan (7-11, 4.68).

Thursday, 5 p.m.--Jarrod Washburn (11-6, 3.51) vs. Chad Durbin (7-13, 4.70).