ANGELS' RALLY FALLS SHORT : HOLLINS, SALMON FAIL TO DELIVER NEW YORK 5, ANGELS 3.

Byline: Marc J. Spears Daily News Staff Writer

The Angels' 2-3 record was nothing to brag about. But manager Terry Collins was impressed.

Despite the losing record, the Angels were actually a few runs away from a perfect record entering Monday's game against the New York Yankees.

Their setbacks included:

A one-run Opening Day loss to Boston in which the Angels blew a three-run ninth inning lead.

A two-run loss to Cleveland on Saturday.

And on Sunday, Anaheim entered the ninth tied 8-8 with the Indians. But two homers by the Indians gave them the victory.

After falling behind by four runs by the seventh Monday night in front of 16,514 at Anaheim Stadium, the Angels' chances seemed slim because of the strong pitching of New York's Andy Pettitte.

The Angels, however, stayed true to their recent ways by bombing Pettitte for three runs and five hits in the seventh to cut their deficit to one. New York, however, scored an insurance run and held off the Angels to win 5-3.

``We play hard and we've been in the games,'' Collins said. ``But we are going to have to start winning a couple of them.

``I tip my hat to my guys. They sure hang in there, they hang in there and battle. We're one hit away from winning a lot of games.''

The Angels' rally came up short even though they had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh after they had pulled to within one. But Dave Hollins lined out to second and Tim Salmon struck out looking to end the inning.

After scoring a run in the first,the Yankees jumped to a 2-0 advantage when Mark Whiten scored as the Angels turned a double play.

With one out in the fourth inning, 21-year veteran Eddie Murray was called for a third strike on an appeal by first-base umpire Mike Reilly after he barely moved his shoulders. In the top of the fifth, a disgruntled Murray became the Angels' first ejection of the season when he was tossed by third-base umpire Rich Garcia.

All the Angels could muster were two hits by Orlando Palmiero until Gary DiSarcina got a single in the fifth. Until the seventh, only Palmiero had advanced past first base.

In the sixth, the Yankees increased their lead to 3-0 after Whiten scored from first on a Joe Girardi double.

But Pettitte's productive tenure came to an abrupt ending after he allowed three runs on five hits in the seventh.

``I was cruising for six,'' said Pettitte, who allowed three earned runs, nine hits and struck out five in 6-1/3 innings. ``They got five hits. It was just one of those innings.''

Pettitte (2-0) has never lost at Anaheim Stadium. Mark Langston (0-1) took the loss, allowing eight hits and three earned runs in six innings. Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera earned his second save.

Palmiero was a bright spot for the Angels with a career-best three hits and three RBI. Angels left fielder Garret Anderson, who singled in the seventh, has hit in all six games.

The Yanks built a 5-3 advantage in the eighth when Whiten scored for the third time.

The Angels attempted another comeback in the eighth but came up short once again as they failed to advance Darin Erstad from third.

``We're doing a lot of things right,'' Langston said. ``But the bottom line is that we're not winning these games. The things I like to see is our team fighting to the very end. If we can continue on that pace, things can change.''

Notes: Angels pitcher Chuck Finley, recovering from an eye injury, had a ``good'' sideline pitching outing. He is scheduled to pitch Thursday for Single-A Lake Elsinore against Visalia and is tentatively penciled in to make his season debut at Yankee Stadium on April 15. . . . Second baseman Randy Velarde, who is out for the season with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, will have surgery today. The surgery will be performed by team physician Dr. Lewis Yocum at 7:30 a.m. in Inglewood's Centinela Hospital Medical Center. . . . Aftear the Angels take a day off Thursday, pitcher Mark Gubicza will start over Shigetoshi Hasegawa on Friday in Cleveland. Hasegawa will be sent to the bullpen. . . . The tip of Luis Alicea's left middle finger was dislocated during batting practice after it was hit by a pitch thrown by batting instructor Rod Carew. The second baseman, who was already scheduled to have the day off, snapped it back in place and said he was OK.

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Photo

Photo: Eddie Murray of the Angels argues with umpire Rich Garcia after being ejected during the fifth inning against the New York Yankees.

Associated Press