ANGELS FALL TO TRIBE IT'S ANOTHER COSTLY SETBACK FOR ANAHEIM CLEVELAND 9, ANGELS 5.

Byline: Gordon Verrell Staff Writer

ANAHEIM--This time of year, with the Angels clearly in the mix for the American League West crown, as well as the AL wild card, there's always a tendency to ``scoreboard watch,'' to see what everyone else is doing.

But Mike Scioscia, the Anaheim skipper, says that's not the case with his young club.

``We're not watching the scoreboard,'' he insists. ``We don't need help. We need to win. And we're playing the teams we have to beat.''

Which brings up a definite good news-bad news sort of thing.

They're also playing the teams they can't be losing to.

Like Cleveland.

The Indians hammered out a 9-5 victory over the Angels on Saturday at Edison Field before 37,697.

Anaheim won the first game of the three-game series Friday night, not the second. The Angels haven't won two in a row against the Indians in more than two years, since Aug. 3-4, 1998.

The win lifted Cleveland into second place in the wild-card chase, just one-half game back of Boston, while the Angels fell 3 1/2 games behind the Red Sox - and five games in the loss column - and into fifth place in the wild card. They're also five back of Seattle in the AL West.

``I look at the standings, sure,'' Scioscia said beforehand, ``but we're a little short of that time when you're saying, `We're a game up with two weeks to play' . . . stuff like that.

``There's a lot of baseball left.''

Hopefully, for the Angels, some with more punch than Saturday night.

For five innings the Angels managed a mere two singles off of Cleveland's Jason Bere, both of them by Garret Anderson. They got their only run off Bere on an out.

Scott Schoeneweiss (6-7), in his first start since the numbing loss last week in Boston, when he was within one out of his seventh win, pitched into the seventh and was charged with six runs on eight hits. He is winless in his last four starts.

Schoeneweiss limited the Indians to just one hit the first three innings, then his throwing error helped the Tribe take a 2-0 lead in the fourth.

Omar Vizquel opened the fourth with a single to right. Roberto Alomar hit a comebacker to the mound, a possible double play. Vizquel was running on the play, and Schoeneweiss hurried his throw to second, so much so he threw the ball into center field, enabling Vizquel to reach third. Manny Ramirez scored Vizquel with a sacrifice fly, then David Segui brought Alomar home from first with a double to left-center.

The Angels got a run off of Bere in the bottom of the fourth on a walk to Tim Salmon, a single by Anderson that sent Salmon to third and an infield out by Troy Glaus.

Cleveland made it 4-1 with a two-run sixth, on a double by Ramirez, a two-out walk to Travis Fryman, a single by Jim Thome and a wicked single by Wil Cordero off Schoeneweiss' left ankle.

The Angels had an opportunity in the sixth, when Salmon and Anderson opened with singles, only the third and fourth hits off of Bere. Bere got Glaus and Adam Kennedy, but walked Bengie Molina to load the bases, and that brought Schuey out of the bullpen. Schuey fanned Ron Gant to end the threat.

Cleveland picked up two more runs in the seventh inning, knocking out Schoeneweiss. Kenny Lofton scored from third when Segui grounded into a force play, then Fryman's infield single off Glaus' glove at third drove in Vizquel who had walked.

Mo Vaughn, who struck out his first three at-bats, booted a grounder at first base in the eighth that led to the Indians' seventh run.

ANGELS vs. CLEVELAND

Time: 5:05 p.m., at Edison Field.

TV/Radio: ESPN; KLAC-AM (570), XPRS-AM (1090 Spanish)

Matchup: Kent Mercker (1-2, 5.30 ERA) vs. Chuck Finley (10-9, 4.09). Finley, whose image adorns the right field wall at Edison Field as a member of the all-time Angels team, returns to his roots this evening. Finley has 175 career wins, 165 of them with the Angels, for whom he pitched 14 seasons. Finley won his last start, pitching five innings in the Indians' 14-6 win over Oakland on Tuesday. Mercker also won Tuesday, his last time out, undoubtedly it was a far more emotional victory. It was his first win of the season and, more importantly, his first since his life-threatening cerebral hemorrhage in May.

- Gordon Verrell

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo: (1) JACKSON

(2) GLAUS

Box: (1) CHASING REGGIE

(2) ANGELS vs. CLEVELAND (See text)