[0] ANGELS BURY ZITO IN EXPLOSIVE SIXTH PALMEIRO PROVIDES INNING'S KEY HIT ANGELS 6, OAKLAND 4.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - It's the oldest trick in the book.

The manager goes out to argue with the umpires, and in the process the opposing pitcher gets cold. The home team then rallies with a big inning and wins the game.

Actually, Angels manager Mike Scioscia seemed to have a legitimate beef when he spent about 10 minutes on the field calmly making his point about a strange play in the sixth inning. It just so happened the Angels offense, shut out for the five previous innings by Oakland A's pitcher Barry Zito, suddenly got hot and produced a five-run inning, leading to a 6-4 victory Thursday night in front of 15,859 at Edison Field.

The big hit in the fateful sixth came from Orlando Palmeiro, whose pinch-hit, two-run single tied the game at 3. An error by A's shortstop Miguel Tejada on Scott Spiezio's grounder resulted in the tie-breaking runs.

Troy Glaus, from UCLA, added a solo homer, No. 17, in the seventh for the Angels' final run. Angels starter Scott Schoeneweis battled through a shaky start to go 7 1/3 innings, his night ending after center fielder Darin Erstad made a leaping catch at the fence with two runners on in the eighth inning.

Schoeneweis (6-3) hit four A's batters, tying a major-league record, but earned the victory. Troy Percival pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his 14th save in 14 opportunities.

The Angels trailed 3-0 in the sixth and seemed to be going nowhere. Zito, the former Pierce College and USC star, had retired 14 Angels hitters in a row since the first inning. But David Eckstein broke the string with a single, and that's when it happened.

Erstad hit a line drive into the left-field corner, where A's left fielder Eric Byrnes appeared to make a running catch just as he crossed the foul line. But when he ran into the short fence in foul territory, the ball popped out of his glove and into the crowd.

As Brynes and a couple of fans fought each other for the ball, third- base umpire Doug Eddings ruled it a catch. However, when Eckstein tagged and ran toward second, he was told to go back to first base.

That brought Scioscia out of the dugout, and a lengthy discussion with the umpires ensued. It ended with Scioscia notifying the umpires the club was playing the game under protest, based on the interpretation of the fan interference rule.

After play resumed, the Angels put together their first scoring threat since the first inning.

Glaus walked and Tim Salmon was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Garret Anderson. Anderson came up in the first inning with the bases loaded and one out, and popped out. This time, Anderson got even, hitting a line drive off Zito's chest. Zito retrieved the ball from in front of the mound but his throw to first was too late, and Eckstein scored to cut the A's lead to 3-1.

The liner also knocked Zito out of the game because of a bruised chest. Side-arming pitcher Chad Bradford replaced Zito to face Palmeiro, who stroked a two-run single to right field to score two and tie the game at 3.