ANGELS' ACID TEST STRETCH WILL DETERMINE IF ANAHEIM IS FOR REAL.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - For the first time in several years, it's hard to find fault with the Angels' starting rotation, lineup or bullpen. As a result, this well-balanced and steady team finds itself in the thick of a three-team race with the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics in the American League West.

But as the pennant race unfolds, with all three teams figuring to stay tightly bunched past Labor Day and into September, the Mariners and A's are all too aware of one advantage they have over Anaheim:

They've proven they can win in August and September. The Angels haven't.

``I know I feel comfortable,'' Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez said. ``Teams like Minnesota, Anaheim and Boston - they have to prove they can play in the second half.''

The Angels continue a crucial 11-game stretch by welcoming the A's to Edison Field tonight, fresh off a sweep of the Mariners that pulled them to within a game of first place, a game ahead of third-place Oakland and a half-game up on Boston in the wild-card race. The Angels head to Seattle this weekend and then they won't see their two divisional rivals again until Sept. 9, when they begin a season-closing stretch by playing 14 of 20 games against the Mariners and A's.

Recently, that's the time of year when the Mariners and A's flourish, and the Angels ponder tee times and fishing spots.

Last season, the Mariners were relentless in winning a record-tying 116 games. But many have forgotten that the Angels actually crept into the wild-card race for a spell, pulling to within five games of Oakland in August. But the A's finished the year playing at a 67-20 clip. The Angels? They went 15-14 in August, 6-21 in September and October.

Anaheim's El Foldo tendencies have been well-documented, from its blowing a 13-game lead in 1995 to Seattle to the Texas Rangers' decisive sweep at Edison Field in the last week of the '98 season.

Oakland and Seattle, meanwhile, have accounted for the last two AL West titles and AL wild-card berths, and the Mariners have reached the league championship series the past two seasons.

``When you know you've been there, you feel confidence that you can do it again,'' said Seattle designated hitter Edgar Martinez, who has been around for Seattle's four playoff appearances since '95.

Will such a disparity in big-game experience rear its head in this race?

``That was true for those teams, too, at one point,'' Angels outfielder Tim Salmon said. ``It's a good point, but they could've said the same thing about the young players at Oakland a couple of years ago. Who's to say it's not our turn for it to happen?''

Fair enough, but Chavez notes that the A's 2000 division title was almost a case of ignorance being bliss. Four starting players and three rotation members were 24 or younger that year, and the A's went from futile to potent so quickly that they never knew failure in a pennant race.

``We were so young and naive,'' Chavez said. ``We started playing well. We were young and aggressive and we didn't think of what we were doing.''

Many of these Angels are well aware of their franchise's sordid past. Salmon and Anderson were starting outfielders on the '95 team, and closer Troy Percival was a key set-up man. The team's current core was around for the '98 close call, and it will ultimately be up to them to change the culture of late-season futility.

``I don't think any of us see it that way,'' Percival said of their stretch-drive failures haunting them. ``Maybe once you get (to the postseason), but getting there? So many of our guys have come close, it drives them.''

Intangibles figure to loom large in this race because all three teams are evenly matched. With its recent acquisition of left-hander Ted Lilly, Oakland has the best and deepest rotation, but the Angels and Mariners have no holes in theirs.

Seattle has had the best bullpen, but Oakland features one of the AL's top set-up men this year in submariner Chad Bradford (1.44 ERA) and the Angels have done fine despite missing Percival for the past 12 games. He'll return Saturday.

The Angels might actually have the best lineup of the three. It lacks a dynamic leadoff presence like Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki or a power-hitting shortstop capable of hitting .300 like Oakland's Miguel Tejada. But four starters are hitting .295 or better, and nobody's having the off years that Seattle's Bret Boone (.242), Jeff Cirillo (.235) and Mike Cameron (.228) are suffering through.

The X factor is in the front office, where Seattle's Pat Gillick and Oakland's Billy Beane have been more willing to swap prospects for help than Angels GM Bill Stoneman. But even if Oakland shores up its outfield or Seattle adds another bat, no team figures to run and hide from the others. So September should be the acid test.

And why should this one be any different for the Angels?

Depth, Percival said. The Angels went south in '95 after shortstop Gary DiSarcina tore a thumb ligament in August. This season, Percival, catcher Bengie Molina, relievers Al Levine and Dennis Cook, and designated hitter Shawn Wooten have spent time on the disabled list.

And they're still standing.

Maybe there's even something to the ``mojo'' manager Mike Scioscia is fond of citing. The Angels bounced back from a 6-14 start, survived some minor injuries and, this past weekend, swept the Mariners for the first time in four years.

``These guys have always had a good team. This year, you can tell, is different,'' Chavez said. ``Either they're figuring it out or they're just better.''

Beginning tonight, we'll start to find out.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) The Angels' Jarrod Washburn has been one of the main reasons for the team's success of late.

Mark Terrill/Associated Press

Box:

HOW THE AL WEST CONTENDERS MATCH UP (see text)