ANGELS' LEAD SHRINKS TO 2 : MINNESOTA 5, ANGELS 0.

Byline: Joe Haakenson

On a night when Mark McGwire proved records are meant to be broken, the Angels and Minnesota Twins showed that streaks also have a way of ending.

Angels starting pitcher Steve Sparks entered Tuesday night's game having won six consecutive decisions. His opponent, Twins starter Brad Radke, had lost five in a row and was 1-7 with a 6.85 ERA since the All-Star break.

So what happens? Radke pitches like Pedro Martinez and leads the Twins to a 5-0 victory over the Angels before 20,444 at Edison Field.

The loss, coupled with Texas' ninth-inning comeback win, reduced the Angels' American League West lead to two games with 18 to play.

Sparks (9-3) didn't pitch poorly - he gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings - but he didn't get nearly the run support the offense normally gives him. In Sparks' past six wins, the Angels averaged 8.2 runs per game. But against Radke (11-13), it was a different story.

Despite Radke's recent trouble, he's always pitched well against the Angels. Including Tuesday's game, Radke is 3-0 with a 1.65 ERA in four starts against the Angels this season. For his career, Radke is 7-1 with a 1.57 ERA against Anaheim.

``The way he's pitching now, he can get well in a hurry against us,'' Angels manager Terry Collins said before the game, and he was right.

Radke gave up six hits in seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and walking one. No Angels baserunner reached third base the entire game. Between Tim Salmon's leadoff single in the fourth and Chris Pritchett's one-out single in the seventh, Radke retired 10 Angels hitters in a row.

Radke also got help from his defense. Third baseman Brent Gates and second baseman Todd Walker made diving catches of line drives in the third and seventh innings, respectively. Both catches saved a run because the Angels had a runner on second base each time. In all, the Angels lined out to an infielder five times in the game.

Radke is not alone in shutting down the Angels' offense on the current homestand. In four games (three vs. Kansas City, one vs. Minnesota), the Angels have scored a total of eight runs.

The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Otis Nixon singled, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored on a two-out wild pitch by Sparks.

In the fourth, David Ortiz scored from first on a double by Pat Meares for a 2-0 Twins lead.

Two solo home runs by Terry Steinbach (sixth inning off Sparks, eighth inning off Allen Watson) and another by Paul Molitor (seventh inning off Watson) increased the Twins' advantage to 5-0.

Notes: The acquisition of catcher Charlie O'Brien meant less playing time for Phil Nevin and Matt Walbeck, who had shared the duties all season.

Walbeck, though, has more experience than Nevin as a catcher and is hitting 29 points higher, so Nevin has become the odd man out. That is, except when Sparks is pitching.

Nevin has become Sparks' personal catcher, which is odd because this is Nevin's first full season in the big leagues as a catcher.

``It's hard to explain it,'' Collins said. ``Phil was the first guy to catch him in the bullpen (when Sparks joined the Angels in June). So I put him in the game. I think he enjoys it because it's a challenge.

``Due to his lack of experience, you'd say he's one guy that's not going to catch a knuckleballer. But it goes down as one of the quirky things that's happened this summer that's worked out.'' . . .

Closer Troy Percival played catch before Tuesday's game to test his sore right shoulder, which had kept him out since Friday, and felt fine.

ANGELS vs. MINNESOTA

Time: 7:35 p.m., at Edison Field.

TV/Radio: FSW; KRLA 1110-AM, XPRS 1090-AM (Spanish).

Matchups: The Angels' Ken Hill (9-5, 4.91 ERA) will face the Twins' Frank Rodriguez (4-4, 6.02 ERA). The Angels wrap up their homestand tonight before going to Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Texas for a seven-game road trip. The road has been good to the Angels this season. They are 40-30 away from Edison Field. Only the Yankees have more road wins in the American League.

- Joe Haakenson

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO Minnesota's Paul Molitor leans back and laughs after one of Steve Sparks' knuckleballs is called a strike.

Tammy Lechner/Associated Press

BOX: ANGELS vs. MINNESOTA (see text)