Coming Clean at the Break

As baseball pauses for the All-Star break, the talk around the American League is of the long-suffering Kansas City Royals, the amazing Seattle Mariners, the allegedly cursed Boston Red Sox and the mercenary New York Yankees.

The Angels were pretty much left for dead weeks ago, dismissed as a cute little Disney story exposed as a one-season wonder. But the defending World Series champions are following their 2002 blueprint, stumbling early and getting on a summertime roll, and another red October is suddenly a possibility, not a punch line.

The Angels pounded Minnesota on Sunday in an 8-3 victory that completed their first sweep of the Twins in Anaheim in seven years. For the first time this season, the Angels have won five consecutive games.

They arrive at the break 8 1/2 games behind first-place Seattle in the AL West, and they’ve made up five games on the Mariners in 16 days. The wild card is there for the taking, at 5 1/2 games behind Boston.

“I don’t think we ever discounted ourselves in the first place,” closer Troy Percival said. “We weren’t playing terribly. We were playing really good teams and playing just above .500.

“If we play like we are now, we can play with anybody, and we can definitely go on a run like we did last year.”

The Angels won eight of their final 11 games before the break last year, then roared through August, September and October. They won 12 of their final 16 before the break this year, with an August schedule that includes 24 games against AL Central opponents. The Angels are 10-1 against that division this season, after a 30-15 record last season.

So, while outfielder Jeff DaVanon said, “This is a bad time for a break,” Manager Mike Scioscia disagreed.

“We were asked the same question last year,” he said. “You almost didn’t want things to stop. But we picked it up and didn’t miss a beat.”

The Angels found all sorts of rhythm Sunday. John Lackey won for the third time in four starts, lowering his earned-run average below 5.00 for the first time this year. The bullpen extended its latest streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 15.

DaVanon threw out one runner at the plate and Garret Anderson nearly threw out another. Benji Gil dropped two bunts, one for a sacrifice and one for a hit. Anderson hit his 22nd home run, Gil and Scott Spiezio each drove in two-out runs, and Bengie Molina drove in two runs, boosting his average with men in scoring position to .379.

“The edge is there,” outfielder Darin Erstad said. “It’s a matter of getting big hits, solid pitching and great plays on defense. Guys feed off each other when that happens.”

The combination of hitting, pitching and defense is essential, Anderson said.

“Two out of three is not going to help us much in this division,” he said.

With the notable exceptions of infielders David Eckstein and Adam Kennedy and the oft-injured Erstad, the hitters have performed no worse than they did during the first half of last season. However, every starting pitcher has a higher ERA.

That makes the starters’ recent run -- 2.94 over the last 16 games -- highly encouraging. Scioscia, whose criticism so perturbed the starters that several asked him why they were so repeatedly singled out, gave due credit.

“They took some criticism early in the year for struggling. That contributed heavily to our slow start,” he said. “The reverse is true now. As they’re pitching better, the wins are going on the board.”

By the way, the Angels have a better record than the Dodgers. They make no boasts or predictions, other than the face-saving one Anderson offered on his way to tonight’s All-Star home run derby.

“I just want to hit one,” he said.

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AL WEST RACE

*--* Team W L GB Seattle 58 35 -- Oakland 54 39 4 ANGELS 49 43 8 1/2 AL WILD-CARD RACE Boston 55 38 -- Oakland 54 39 1 ANGELS 49 43 5 1/2 Toronto 49 46 7

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Measuring Up

The statistics for key Angel players at the All-Star break, after 92 games, and statistics for the same players after 92 games last year:

*--* 2002 2003

Pos. Players Avg HR RBI Avg HR RBI GARRET ANDERSON 287 17 69 316 22 78 DAVID ECKSTEIN 270 4 42 237 3 21 DARIN ERSTAD 295 6 51 272 3 15 TROY GLAUS 252 15 62 257 15 49 ADAM KENNEDY 299 2 24 247 4 24 BENGIE MOLINA 268 1 36 285 9 49 TIM SALMON 283 14 56 276 14 47 SCOTT SPIEZIO 265 4 43 258 9 31 Pitchers W-L ERA W-L ERA KEVIN APPIER 7-7 4.68 6-5 4.78 JOHN LACKEY* 1-1 3.12 7-8 4.99 RAMON ORTIZ 8-7 3.80 11-6 4.41 AARON SELE 7-6 5.08 6-6 5.37 JARROD WASHBURN 11-2 3.03 8-9 4.22 TROY PERCIVAL 22** 2.15 20** 2.48 * promoted from minor leagues in June 2002; ** -- Saves

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