ANGELS BLASTED BY PADRES, THEN BY THEIR MANAGER : ANGELS 2 SAN DIEGO 9.

Byline: Marc J. Spears Daily News Staff Writer

Every time things seemed to reach a boiling point this season, the Angels found a way to stay cool.

But if the heat in the manager's voice after Thursday afternoon's 9-2 loss to the San Diego Padres is any indication, that may be coming to an end.

``This game doesn't sit very good,'' Terry Collins said after the Angels were undone by sloppy fielding, lack of offensive punch and ineffective pitching. ``Nobody feels sorry for us. . . . nobody. I don't give a damn who is hurt. I don't care who is not in the lineup. Nobody feels sorry for you here. We didn't play good, we didn't hit good, we didn't pitch good, we can't catch the baseball. You're going to get your butt kicked and that is all that happened. . . . bottom line.''

It's difficult to say whether Collins' lashing was worse than the one the Angels absorbed in front of of 18,203 fans at Qualcomm Stadium. They have been outscored 19-6 in their last two games. They were beaten Thursday by Paul Menhart, who was recalled two weeks ago after going 0-7 with a 5.97 ERA at Triple-A Las Vegas.

``If I had the answer, I would correct it,'' Collins said. ``I'd correct it so fast you wouldn't believe it.'

The loss kept the Angels two games behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West and dropped them eight behind the idle New York Yankees in the wild-card race.

The Angels now are 2-9 in interleague action and 1-2 against the Padres, who snapped a four-game losing streak. The Angels play their next five games against the National League.

``We're playing like (expletive),'' said Angels second baseman Tony Phillips. We're not aggressive. We have to play the game right, the way it is supposed to be played. If we play nine whole innings that is all we can do.

``We're taking (stuff) for granted. During this time of the year we have to go to the ballpark and fight like someone is trying to take something from you. You can't come to the park like everything is OK. You have to come to the park fighting because that is the only way things will get done. We don't have that right now. I don't think it is a slump at all.''

When asked if the team is fatigued, Collins said, ``I'm the wrong guy to ask. I feel great. I feel absolutely great.''

Jason Dickson cannot say the same. After allowing just one earned run in his last two appearances, Dickson didn't make it out of the fifth against the Padres. He allowed eight runs, six earned.

``I don't think there is any room to make excuses,'' said Dickson (13-6). ``We have to accept that some days we're going to play bad. From a pitching standpoint, there are going to be days when I'm going to go out there and pitch bad. We have to take it in stride. The biggest part of this game is to not get too high when things aren't going good and not to get too low when things aren't.'

The Padres scored two runs in the second, three in the fourth and four in the fifth off nine hits and an error. The Angels were also bothered by some bad throws and the menacing sun.

Center fielder Jim Edmonds was the only bright spot, making another of his signature diving catches off a Steve Finley liner in the sixth and hitting his 21st homer on inning later.

Menhart's last win was for Triple-A Tacoma on May 29 when he was a member of the Seattle organization. He was 3-6 in big-league stints with Toronto in 1995 and Seattle in 1996. His first big-league loss was in relief against the Angels in 1995.

``This is a tough place to play in the daytime,'' Collins said. But I'm not making any excuses. We didn't play good. Period. We didn't play good. We haven't played good for three to five straight days. We're better than this and we know it.''

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Photo, Box

Photo: Jim Edmonds provides an Angels bright spot, snagging Steve Finley's fly ball in the sixth inning.

Associated Press

Box: ANGELS TODAY