Extra Innings

If it’s the fifth inning and no one is warming up in the bullpen, that’s a good sign. If it’s the sixth inning and no one is warming up, that’s a better sign. If it’s the seventh inning and no one is warming up, the Angels just might be creeping toward playing in October.

For all the happy talk about veteran leadership imported to help nurture an otherwise young starting rotation, the truth is this: Kevin Appier and Aaron Sele aren’t here to be big brothers to Jarrod Washburn, Ramon Ortiz and Scott Schoeneweis.

Appier and Sele are here to pitch 200 innings apiece, and to win. The expectations are identical for Washburn, Ortiz and Schoeneweis.

The three major league teams that got more than 1,000 innings from their starting pitchers last season--the Oakland Athletics, Atlanta Braves and World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks--all advanced to the playoffs.

The Angels aren’t going to slug their way into the playoffs this season. But if the starters can reliably pitch six or seven innings and the bullpen can stay fresh, one clutch hit--rather than two or three home runs--might be enough to deliver a victory.

“It’s always nice when you have starting pitching you know will go deep into the game,” Angel reliever Al Levine said. “That’s when you know you have a chance to win.”

Oakland starters led the majors by pitching 1,022 innings. The five Angel starters, including Appier’s work for the New York Mets and Sele’s for the Seattle Mariners, combined to pitch 1,029 innings.

“We have a chance to win every day,” Angel closer Troy Percival said.

If Appier is cruising, Levine or Lou Pote won’t have to warm up in the fifth inning, then the sixth, then again before entering the game in the seventh.

If Sele is cruising, the Angels can save Dennis Cook--probably their only left-handed reliever--for left-handed hitters such as Rafael Palmeiro or John Olerud in a pivotal at-bat late in a game.

“It makes it easier on the bullpen,” Percival said. “I don’t see us getting gassed in September.”

Said pitching coach Bud Black: “It’s a huge lift. It might take 10 innings off Levine, 10 innings off Pote, and 10 innings off Cook.” Pote pitched 87 innings last season, Levine 76 and Cook 46.

This isn’t a foolproof plan. Angel starters last season pitched exactly 1,000 innings, but a wretched offense ruined any hope of contending for the playoffs.

Still, assuming the offense can only get better, it does not have to get that much better. The Braves rode their pitchers into the playoffs, scoring more runs than the Angels but fewer than all but three of their National League rivals.

And the Angel staff should be better this season. While the club also had veterans in the rotation last season, check the numbers: Pat Rapp and Ismael Valdes pitched 334 innings and won 14 games; Appier and Sele pitched 422 innings and won 26 games.

In the past five seasons, Sele has pitched at least 200 innings four times, Appier three and Valdes once. Rapp never did.

Check the money too: The Angels paid Rapp and Valdes a total of $4.5 million in base salary last season. They will pay Appier and Sele $16.5 million this season.

“Ismael and Rapp were veteran guys, but not with the kind of resume as these guys have,” Schoeneweis said.

These veteran guys are more than happy to return the compliment. Sele shrugs off talk of him and Appier leading the young pups, pointing out that Washburn, Ortiz and Schoeneweis are entering their fourth season together in the Angel rotation. The trio combined to throw 607 innings last season.

“Before they had Kevin and I, they had three solid guys,” Sele said. “Everybody says, all these young kids. They’ve done it. They know what they’re doing, and they’re good at it. It’s not like they’re coming out of double A and they don’t know what’s going on.”

Strong starting pitching isn’t the only way into the playoffs, of course. No American League team got fewer innings from its starters last season than the Cleveland Indians, but General Manager John Hart built a playoff-bound team behind Juan Gonzalez, Jim Thome, Roberto Alomar, Ellis Burks and a tireless bullpen.

Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman built his around the five starters.

The Angels playoff-bound? If it’s the seventh inning and all is quiet in the bullpen, they might be.

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