ANDERSON DOWNPLAYS RACE HE SAYS TEAM MORE IMPORTANT THAN BATTING TITLE; ANGELS LOSE MINNESOTA 6, ANGELS 1.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - This wasn't the race the Angels envisioned when they began the season, but when you're closer to last place than first, it'll have to do.

Only one Angels player has won a batting title in the franchise's history, and that came 33 years ago when Alex Johnson hit .329 for the 1970 club. Now, left fielder Garret Anderson is in a race for the batting crown, even if he says it's not something high on his list of priorities.

Anderson went 1 for 3 with a walk and an RBI Thursday afternoon in the Angels' 6-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins in front of 33,760 at Edison Field, and his season average remained at .323. That RBI, however, was the extent of the Angels offense, and it wasn't nearly enough.

Angels starter Ramon Ortiz retired the first nine batters he faced and allowed only two singles through five innings. But he gave up a two-out, two-run single to Matthew LeCroy in the sixth and a two-run double to Luis Rivas in the eighth, and that was enough for the Twins.

Jacque Jones (USC) hit a two-run homer off Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez later in the eighth inning to put the game away.

Ortiz's attempt to become the Angels' first 20-game winner since Nolan Ryan won 22 in 1974 hit a road block after he gave up five runs (three earned) and six hits in seven-plus innings. Ortiz (15-11) lines up to get five more starts this season, meaning he'd have to win all five. Though it's a difficult task, Ortiz did win five consecutive starts this season from June 3-25.

``He's got the potential to win 20, why stop at 15?'' manager Mike Scioscia said.

Though winning 20 games would be a notable accomplishment, Scioscia said he doesn't know whether he would start Ortiz on three days' rest the final day of the season if Ortiz had 19 wins by then.

``Let's get there and see where we are,'' he said. ``It's a great milestone, but it's not worth risking a career for.''

Meanwhile, the race for the batting crown got tightened. Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners went 0 for 4 on Thursday and his average fell to .325. Bill Mueller of the Boston Red Sox did not play but took over the American League lead at .327.

While Suzuki relies on speed and making contact, Anderson hits for power. He leads the league in extra-base hits (75), is tied for 10th in homers (27), first in doubles (44) and is second in total bases (307). While Anderson said winning a batting crown would be nice, he said he isn't about to become a singles hitter.

``I'm not going to change my approach, not for something like (a batting title),'' said Anderson, whose best single-season average in a full season came last year (.306). ``If anything, (changing the approach) would work against me. If I was a singles hitter - like Ichiro, he's a singles hitter - things might be different. But I'm going to stay with my approach and if it happens, it happens.''

Scioscia agreed with Anderson's assessment of the situation.

``We're out here to win ballgames,'' Scioscia said. ``Case in point, (Wednesday) night he came up with a runner on second base with no outs two times. What did he do? He moved the runners over with grounders to second. That shows you what Garret's about.''

Anderson's single Thursday increased his RBI total to 110. It's the type of overall production Anderson provides that has Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher expecting even bigger things in the future.

``He's a guy who can win a batting title, heck, he's a guy who can with the Triple Crown,'' Hatcher said. ``He's got the ability to do that.

``Garret's a guy that makes adjustments depending on what the pitcher is doing with him. He can get his singles by going the other way if that's what the pitcher gives him.''

Joe Haakenson, [phone]

joe.haakenson(at)sgvn.com