AGAIN, NO RELIEF; DODGERS BULLPEN CAN'T HOLD LEAD AS ANGELS WIN 20TH IN LAST 23 : ANGELS 6, DODGERS 4.

Byline: Joe Haakenson San Gabriel Valley Tribune

There was a smattering of fans who began heading toward the exits in the bottom of the seventh inning of Tuesday night's game between the Dodgers and Angels. It's safe to assume they were Dodgers fans getting a jump on traffic, just as they do at Dodger Stadium.

After all, the game was all but over, the Dodgers bullpen wasting another lead. The Angels rallied late in the game for the second night in a row, this time scoring three runs in the seventh inning and one in the eighth on their way to a 6-4 win before a sellout crowd of 43,719 at Edison Field.

The victory enabled the Angels, winners of 20 of their last 23 games, to maintain their 3-1/2-game lead in the AL West over Texas. The Dodgers remained 13-1/2 games behind first-place San Diego in the NL West.

With the win, the Angels improved to 46-29, their best start in franchise history through 75 games.

``I'll tell you one thing, these guys right now are tough to beat,'' Angels manager Terry Collins said of his team. ``They're going out and having fun. Their confidence is up. This is when you want to ride it, enjoy it, because we know there's a long road ahead.''

Sweeping the Dodgers in the two-game series in Anaheim was nice, Collins said, but he's keeping it in perspective.

``It's nice to beat the Dodgers, but I'm not going to get caught up in beating the Dodgers,'' he said. ``Texas won today. We needed to win to stay 3-1/2 up.''

Tuesday's game showed the differences in the two bullpens. For the Angels, even without closer Troy Percival, given a day off after pitching three consecutive days, the bullpen was effective.

But the Dodgers' troubles continued. Only one night earlier, the Angels took advantage of the beleaguered Dodgers bullpen, scoring all six runs in the final three innings to win 6-5. Tuesday, Dodgers starter Dave Mlicki allowed only two unearned runs through six innings before he had to leave the game.

Mlicki was knocked dizzy, but it wasn't the Angels hitters doing the damage.

On Darin Erstad's infield single in the fifth inning, second baseman Wilton Guerrero fielded the ball before colliding with Mlicki, Guerrero's head smacking Mlicki in the left side of his jaw. Mlicki had to leave one inning later, and the Angels took advantage of the situation.

With Mlicki out after six innings, the Dodgers scored three runs in the seventh. All three runs were charged to Will Brunson, but Jim Bruske was the one who gave up Cecil Fielder's two runs single and Matt Walbeck's RBI single.

``We should be 2-0 since we got here,'' Dodgers interim general manager Tommy Lasorda said. ``We've blown two leads. That's the answer to (the Dodgers' problems).''

The Dodgers got close with a run in the eighth inning off Pep Harris, but Shigetoshi Hasegawa got Gary Sheffield to fly to right field with the potential tying run on third, ending the inning. Erstad gave the Angels an insurance run in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single.

It was the Angels' 21st come-from-behind win this season. Whatever their deficit, they seem to feel they can rally. Their hot streak started May 31 when they came back from a 5-0 deficit at Minnesota to win 6-5.

``There's no way to explain how important it is to come back and win games,'' Collins said. ``As a game goes along, the confidence it there. They know what it takes, they know how to approach it.

``There are lots of times during games in the season where you're down in the seventh inning, and you hear a voice down the bench say, `It's our time, time to step up.' ''

Angels starter Jarrod Washburn was adequate in six innings, giving up three runs and eight hits. But he left the game trailing 3-2.

Harris (1-0), making his first appearance in almost two weeks, got the win over Brunson (0-1). Rich DeLucia got the final out to record his second save of the season.

In his three starts as a Dodger going into Tuesday's game, Mlicki - acquired June 4 in the trade for Hideo Nomo - already had as many wins this season (two) as Nomo had in 12 starts. And after blanking the Angels for the first three innings Tuesday, Mlicki's consecutive-scoreless-inning streak reached 19, the longest of any Dodgers pitcher this season.

But the Angels snapped the streak with two runs in the fourth, courtesy of the Dodgers defense. Castro at shortstop and Guerrero at second made errors on hard-hit ground balls to start the inning. Both baserunners scored in the inning, one on a double-play ball and the second on a two-out bloop single by Orlando Palmeiro, tying the game at 2.

``They made two errors and we capitalized on it, Collins said. ``That's the way we've been doing it. The execution for us has been very good.

The Dodgers had taken a 2-0 lead with single runs in the second and fourth innings, both runs driven in by Paul Konerko.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Dodgers starter Dave Mlicki feels the effects of two runs that resulted from two errors.

(2) The Dodgers' Paul Konerko takes a lead off first behind Angels first baseman Darin Erstad after collecting his second RBI of the game.

Tammy Lechner/Associated Press