Angels Get Whiff of First Place

The scent of victory: Benji Gil sat in front of his locker, puffing away on a cigar.

“It’s a first-place thing,” Gil said. “I’m trying to get into smoking shape for when we win the pennant.”

No, Gil isn’t endorsing smoking. And, no, he isn’t fitting himself for a championship ring in July, or otherwise dismissing the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics as worthy rivals. But the Angels allowed themselves a brief moment of satisfaction after another conquest of the Mariners, this one a tension-filled 1-0 victory that enabled them to fly home Sunday night as a first-place team, two percentage points ahead of Seattle in the American League West.

On a July day in which the atmosphere resembled October--a cool, gray afternoon before a boisterous sellout crowd at Safeco Field--the Angels played a game worthy of a champion. Kevin Appier and Troy Percival combined on a four-hit shutout, and Shawn Wooten’s ninth-inning sacrifice fly pinned defeat on Seattle closer Kazuhiro Sasaki.

The Angels, outwardly calm and bordering on nonchalant when they pounded the Mariners Friday to move into first-place, rebounded from Saturday’s loss and celebrated Sunday’s victory. Percival, throwing as hard as 99 mph, retired the side in order in the ninth inning. As Garret Anderson caught Desi Relaford’s fly ball for the final out, Percival pumped his fist into the air, then slammed it into the webbing of his glove.

Percival said he had not pitched in a more important game since the last week of the 1995 season. While Angel fans recall 1995 as the year the team coughed up an 11-game lead and lost a one-game playoff to Seattle, Percival remembered the final weekend that season, when the Angels had to sweep the A’s to make up a three-game deficit and qualify for the playoff.

“That’s what it feels like,” he said. “And these fans are incredible. They’re on top of you the whole time. They’re even on top of you in the bullpen. It brings a playoff atmosphere to the game.

“If our fans could do that for us ... well, it’s that much harder to perform when the fans are on top of you.”

Edison Field will be rocking this week, with the annual invasion of expatriates from Boston and New York. On sheer decibel level alone, Angel fans do not figure to outshout Red Sox and Yankee fans, but Percival and his teammates would appreciate the effort.

The Angels are in a four-team fight for two playoff spots, one awarded to the AL West champion and the other to a wild-card team. The Angels and Mariners lead Oakland by three games in both races and lead the Red Sox by one in the wild-card race.

“We haven’t accomplished anything yet,” Percival said. “We’ve gotten ourselves into the race, but we’ve got two good clubs coming in. We can’t go out there and think we’re world champions.”

What the Angels showed the last two weeks was the ability to play with Seattle and Oakland.

The Angels went 10-29 against those teams last year and 3-11 against them in April, but Sunday concluded an 8-3 stretch against Seattle and Oakland.

The Angels swept Seattle in Anaheim last weekend. They won two of three games here, both by shutout.

“This gives us more confidence, especially the way we were playing against the West at the start of the season,” Appier said.

Appier was spectacular, as was his Seattle counterpart, Jamie Moyer. Each starter pitched eight innings and gave up four hits. The four hits off Appier included two bunt singles and a broken-bat single. The four hits off Moyer included two infield singles and a bunt single. As each scoreless inning passed, the tension mounted.

The managers summoned their closers for the ninth inning. Tim Salmon singled to start the ninth, advancing to second base on a single by Anderson and to third on a wild pitch. After Troy Glaus struck out, Wooten hit the game-winning sacrifice fly.

“It’s really cool when you come out on top, at least afterwards,” Appier said. “But it’s very stressful. Do I look older?”

Appier, one of the few Angels with postseason experience, said he sensed a playoff atmosphere over the weekend, and over the last two weeks.

“The last few series have had that kind of flavor,” he said, “that kind of smell.”

As he spoke, the scent of Gil’s victory cigar carried across the clubhouse.