ANGELS EMPLOY SWEEP REVENGE POUNDING OF ZITO COMPLETES THREE IN ROW OVER ATHLETICS ANGELS 8, ATHLETICS 2.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - One good sweep, it seems, deserves another. So the Angels, after being swept in a three-game series by the Athletics last weekend in Oakland, returned the favor this weekend, capping a three-game sweep of the A's with an 8-2 victory Sunday afternoon in front of 38,149 at Edison Field.

The win was the Angels' fifth in a row and improved their record to 7-5, tied with Oakland atop the American League West. Early to be sure, but after playing poorly last week in Oakland, the Angels said it was good to turn things around quickly and get pointed in the right direction.

``I don't think it was important to sweep them, but I know we wanted to play better baseball than we did up there,'' Angels designated hitter Tim Salmon said. ``And we did.''

Not only did they play better baseball, they beat two of the league's best pitchers in the series. Friday, they knocked around the A's Tim Hudson in a 9-5 victory, and Sunday, they beat reigning Cy Young award winner Barry Zito.

Zito (Pierce College, USC) had a 10-game winning streak on the line. He had not lost since Aug. 13 and had allowed only two runs in 13 innings of his first two starts this season.

But the Angels got to him early and often. They scored off him in each of the first four innings by applying constant pressure.

David Eckstein walked and scored on Garret Anderson's sacrifice fly in the first inning. Shawn Wooten led off the second inning with his first homer of the season. Eric Owens drove in two runs with a single in the third, and Salmon unloaded with a three-run homer in the fourth.

In all, Zito (2-1) gave up seven runs and eight hits in five innings.

``The main thing with him is any time you get an opportunity to score against him, you have to do it,'' Wooten said. ``He might have trouble in the first inning and then all of a sudden he's locked in. We kept putting pressure on him the whole game with good at-bats.''

Salmon's homer turned a 4-2 game into 7-2 and might have surprised Salmon as much as anybody. Going into that fourth-inning at-bat, Salmon had a career average of .148 (4 for 27) against Zito with no home runs.

``He made a mistake up and over the plate and I was ready for it,'' Salmon said. ``The key with a guy like him is to be ready when he makes a mistake, because it doesn't happen very often.''

There's also the theory that if some of the best pitchers in the game have struggled early in the season, why not Zito?

``We were saying this morning, maybe it's Zito's turn,'' Owens said. ``(Greg) Maddux, Randy (Johnson) and Pedro (Martinez) have been beaten. Now it's Zito's turn. We put pressure on him all day long. That's what you have to do against a great pitcher.''

Owens started in right field a day after getting a game-winning hit as a pinch hitter. Sunday, he came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning and looked at a Zito curveball for the first strike.

Zito threw another curveball and Owens stayed back before hitting a line drive to left field, breaking a 2-2 tie to give the Angels a lead for good. Troy Glaus, playing despite a sore left hamstring, homered in the seventh inning off Jeremy Fikac for the Angels' eighth run of the game.

While the offense was taking care of business, Angels starter Ramon Ortiz (2-1) managed to fight through some early problems to go six innings and get the victory. Ortiz said he felt good after saying he lacked ``power'' in his pitches in his previous start. He gave up a two-run homer to Terrence Long in the second inning, but nothing else.

Ortiz said his slider was flat, so he relied on spotting his fastball and changeup to get him through.

``He got stronger as the game went on,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``He really didn't have his good slider, but he pitched well without it, and that's a sign of becoming a really good pitcher.''

Angels reliever Scot Shields followed Ortiz and threw three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit, to earn the save.

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Tim Salmon is greeted by Darin Erstad, left, and David Eckstein after his three-run homer in the fourth.

Francis Specker/Associated Press