ANGELS KNOW NOT TO PANIC ANGELS 6, TAMPA BAY 4.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A 13-game deficit in the American League West not withstanding, the Angels say it's no time to panic. And those lengthy pregame meetings manager Mike Scioscia held separately with the hitters, pitchers and coaches? Nothing out of the ordinary.

That being said, the Angels could not afford another loss on Friday. Not to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, owners of baseball's worst record.

They got their much-needed win, 6-4, before 10,946 at Tropicana Field behind some impressive work from the bullpen and just enough offense to overcome a shoddy performance by starting pitcher Pat Rapp (4 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 8 hits).

Darin Erstad and Scott Spiezio each had two hits and a home run to lead an 11-hit attack. Ben Weber (2-0), Al Levine and Troy Percival (11th save) combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. And it allowed them to keep pace with the division-leading Mariners, who won again, though the Angels say they're not paying attention.

``It's just (a matter of) playing better,'' said Percival. ``There's never been a sense of urgency other than playing our kind of baseball. We haven't played good baseball. We have to beat the teams we should beat. Everything is geared to playing hard and playing our game.''

It was just one day earlier that tensions ran high for the Angels, both on the field and in their clubhouse, but Scioscia said the timing of the meetings was coincidental.

``We want to make sure everyone stays with the right focus and priorities,'' he said ``Sometimes it takes some special communication.''

Scioscia's message apparently got through loud and clear.

``Sometimes it's good to hear we're good, good enough to get it done,'' Percival said. ``There's been no anger or sense of urgency. Scioscia said we're good enough, let's go do it.''

They did it Friday, but it didn't come easy. Spiezio's RBI single in the second and an RBI groundout by Troy Glaus gave Rapp and the Angels a 2-0 lead.

But Rapp gave the lead back when the Devil Rays got five hits and two runs in the third inning. It could have been worse for the Angels, but right fielder Tim Salmon threw out Gerald Williams trying to score from second on a single by Andy Sheets.

Erstad's two-run home run (No. 3) highlighted a three-run fifth inning, but Rapp nearly gave it all back again in the bottom of the inning.

After getting the first two hitters of the inning, Rapp yielded a walk and three hits, good for two runs. And even though he was just one out away from qualifying for a victory, Rapp was yanked by Scioscia.

``It hasn't happened too many times before,'' Rapp said of coming out after 4 2/3 innings. ``But it kind of (stinks). (Scioscia) gave me four or five hitters to get out of it. I couldn't do it and he got me out of there. We haven't been winning too much, you don't want to take a chance when we're not winning.''