[0] STRIKE 3 FOR ANGELS; RANGERS TAKE 3-GAME LEAD WITH THREE-GAME SWEEP : TEXAS 7, ANGELS 1.

Byline: Joe Haakenson

Just the other day, Gary DiSarcina said all the pressure to win the AL West was on the Texas Rangers, not the Angels. After all, the Angels shortstop said, it was the Rangers who made the big trades that were supposed to put them over the top.

And after Wednesday night's game, which the Rangers led, 7-1, in the eighth inning, the Rangers were at the summit, looking down.

A win Wednesday would give the Rangers a three-game sweep and a three-game lead with four to play.

The Rangers' magic number would be two, meaning even if the Angels swept a four-game series in Oakland, the Rangers would need only a split of their four-game series in Seattle to clinch the crown.

For the third night in a row, the Angels offense was nowhere to be found. They were shut down by Todd Stottlemyre and Rick Helling in the first two games, which is understandable. But Wednesday it was John Burkett, who entered the game with an 8-13 record and 5.87 ERA.

Burkett looked like Roger Clemens the way he thoroughly dominated the Angels' hitters.

Burkett retired the first six batters of the game before giving up a double to Chad Kreuter and an RBI single to Craig Shipley. But after Shipley's hit, Burkett retired 13 in a row before Darin Erstad walked with two out in the seventh.

The Angels could not have asked for more from starter Ken Hill, who pitched well despite a sore elbow. Hill gave up three runs (two earned) and four hits in 6-1/3 innings.

However, the Angels defense, which had been so good for so long, played poorly for the third night in a row, making two errors. And the bullpen had another tough night. When Hill left, the score was 2-1. Troy Percival gave up three runs himself in the eighth inning, two on Todd Zeile's home run.

If the Angels didn't feel the pressure, it would be difficult to understand what happened to them seemingly so suddenly.

``I don't really feel that much pressure,'' DiSarcina said Tuesday. ``We're not supposed to be here. Everybody knows we didn't make a move before the break. Texas has pressure because they made all the moves.

``The pressure I feel is we've had a great year, you don't want to end it on a sour note. You battle through so many things, overcome so many obstacles, I don't want it to end.''

Like they did in the first two games of the series, the Rangers scored before the Angels even came to bat. And they did it without getting a hit.

Tom Goodwin led off the game with a walk, stole second, went to third on Mark McLemore's grounder to first and scored on Rusty Greer's sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.

Burkett retired the Angels in order in the first two innings, but the Angels got on the scoreboard in the third inning, the first time this series they've scored before the eighth.

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BOX: DOWN TO THE WIRE

The Angels lost to Texas 7-1 Wednesday to fall three games behind the Rangers in the AL West. Both teams have four games remaining.