ANDERSON'S TWIN HRS FUEL ANGELS SLUGGER ON PACE FOR CAREER SEASON ANGELS 7, KANSAS CITY 1.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Garret Anderson says he'll never be the sort of hitter pitchers regard as a dire home run threat, or the sort of star who makes fans stop what they're doing and make sure they're watching when he's up.

``I'm not your typical guy who, when you come to the plate, they're thinking home run,'' Anderson said. ``They're probably thinking more like he'll get a hit, and maybe hit a home run if I make a mistake. I'm not in a class with guys like Barry (Bonds) or (Gary) Sheffield.''

No, but he's getting closer every year.

Anderson continued the finest season of his career Thursday afternoon when he clubbed a pair of home runs off Kansas City Royals starter Chris George, keying the Angels' 7-1 victory at Edison Field.

The Angels (46-43) won their eighth game out of 12 and moved three games above .500 for the fourth time this year. Anderson has been one of their few consistent performers, continuing his run of steady play that began in 2000, when he drove in 117 runs, hit 35 homers and followed that up with two seasons of driving in 123 runs.

But this season, Anderson seems to have moved beyond Mr. Consistency and into a different statistical realm. Like never before, he is combining power with the ability to hit for average, and the results are startling.

Anderson is hitting .313 with 21 homers and 76 RBI. He's on pace to hit a career-high 38 home runs and drive in a career-high 138 runs, and he's currently eighth in the American League in home runs and third in RBI.

Such a season would stack up as his finest. In 2000, he slugged 35 homers but only hit .286. Last year, he hit a career-best .306 but had just 29 homers.

This year, he's having his cake and ripping it over the fence, too.

Anderson has three multihomer games, and since the first week of the season his average has dipped below the .300 mark just once, after an 0-for-4 day June 1.

The next time out, he went 4 for 4 and it's been good times ever since. But Anderson is hesitant, at least yet, to call this his best season.

``Up to this point, numerically, yeah it is,'' he said. ``But if I slump the rest of the way, I won't hear those questions.''

Don't count on it.

Anderson's numbing consistency is immune to whether the pitcher is right-handed or left-handed. He hits righties at a .305 clip and lefties at a .319 clip. But he had just three homers in 116 at-bats against lefties.

That changed when George left a pair of fastballs over the plate in the first and sixth innings. The first homer staked the Angels to a 2-0 lead; the second pushed their lead from 3-1 to 5-1, ensuring bullpen stalwarts Brendan Donnelly and Troy Percival would get a well-deserved afternoon off.

``There's a lot of (left-handed hitters) who hit lefties well,'' manager Mike Scioscia said. ``What Garret does against them is incredible. Garret is just a good hitter. It doesn't matter what side of the rubber guys are toeing.

``He's having an incredible year. He's going to hopefully keep this pace up,'' he said.

Tim Salmon helped matters by drawing three walks, scoring in front of Anderson on both home runs. Salmon added an RBI double in the seventh, and Aaron Sele (6-6) won his third consecutive start since being placed on a five-inning limit.

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com