ANGELS MIDSEASON REVIEW HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION ANGELS APPEAR TO HAVE TURNED SEASON AROUND.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA  Staff Writer

The best of times and worst of times for the Angels can be summarized in two trips to the Bay Area that were just more than two weeks apart.

The Angels' low point and high point of the season came in a span of 17 days, and both moments had John Lackey as the central character.

Lackey was the losing pitcher against the San Francisco Giants on June 20, a night when he gave up just one earned run on five hits in seven innings. The Angels were a season-high sevengames out of first place in the American League West at the time, and the outlook for the rest of the season was pretty discouraging.

An Adam Kennedy error helped open the door for the Giants in the second inning, and pitcher Matt Morris delivered a two-run double.

The outing had actually lowered Lackey's ERA to 3.31 while his overall record fell to 4-5. Afterward, the pitcher was short and to the point.

``You can't think positive when you're losing like we're losing,'' Lackey said at the time. ``It doesn't matter if I'm getting losses or whoever is getting losses. It's not good. Something needs to happen.''

``A move (by the front office) could help, definitely, (or just) playing better. There are a lot of things that need to happen first to turn this thing around.''

Consider Lackey's tell-it-like-it-is postgame remarks as the first step. Since then, the defense has been better, the offense has been much improved and the already stingy pitching staff has clamped down even further.

Coincidence? Possibly. But Lackey had, in effect, called out his teammates and challenged their professionalism.

Since that game against the Giants, the Angels are 11-5 and have cut five games off their deficit in the AL West. They were an impressive 6-1 on a just-completed seven-game trip which contained the season's high point so far.

On Friday at Oakland, Lackey faced the Oakland Athletics with equal parts determination and anger. He was none too happy that on May 2, Robb Quinlan had been hit on the elbow by A's pitcher Chad Gaudin in the same game Lackey was charged by Jason Kendall.

Seeking revenge for others instead of himself gave his determination a clear focus.

Lackey had an outing to remember, pitching a perfect game after a leadoff double by Mark Kotsay. The quirky yet impressive feat hadn't been done in 24 years.

So while Ervin Santana possesses a 10-victory first half and Jered Weaver makes a Fernando Valenzuela-sized splash in the big leagues, it is Lackey who has fueled the turnaround.

The Angels are now a team that looks playoff bound instead of a club that looked headed for a possible youth movement by replacing veterans with unproven youngsters. The defense is better, and the offense is in stride even without big production from first and third base.

Most important of all, however, is that the Angels believe in what is happening.

``We'll be fine, definitely,'' said Kennedy, a former Cal State Northridge standout. ``Whether we win or not remains to be seen, but if we can play like this we'll have a chance. That's what you ask for.''

Now starts the challenge of fending off a number of challengers for the division title.

``I don't think it's just going to come down to us and the A's again this year,'' Scot Shields said. ``I think all four teams are very quality teams and all that we hope for is that we're one of the teams fighting at the end for it.''

A surge in offensive production has coincided with a retooled batting order. Maicer Izturis now follows Chone Figgins in the No. 2 hole, while Orlando Cabrera has been promoted to the third spot. After his 63-game on-base streak was snapped last Friday, Cabrera started another by reaching base twice Saturday.

Vladimir Guerrero is showing a rebirth in the cleanup spot after a poor June. Guerrero batted .243 last month in 103 at-bats with nine runs. In July, he is batting .353 in 34 at-bats with seven runs.

Mike Napoli has proven worthy of the No. 5 spot with a .286 batting average, 11 home runs and 27 RBIs. He also has a .412 on-base percentage.

Garret Anderson might see more time in the No. 6 or 7 holes if his offense continues to slide, although manager Mike Scioscia had him batting cleanup Sunday.

``I think we're doing a lot of things that we need to do,'' Scioscia said. ``They're showing up in games more consistently. That's something we need to be a part of our game. I think our confidence as a team will grow as we do things that are important to us, everything from the situational hitting, hitting with runners in scoring position, the type of defense we need to play. That's all going to add up to winning ballgames. We've been playing better and we've been winning more.''

But there is no denying the importance of the Angels' pitching staff, which has a 4.07 team ERA, second in the AL to Detroit (3.46).

``The pitching has been there for us all year,'' Scioscia said. ``We're going to need to continue it as we get into the second half and it's a good time for us to get a break -- our starting pitching especially -- to recharge a bit and hopefully pick it up on Friday.''

With the experience of consecutive division titles, a veteran core and a pitching staff in sync, it seems as if the Angels are the division favorites now.

``It's tough to say,'' Kennedy said. ``We did it with no experience before, so to say it takes experience I think is a little closed-minded. It may help and it doesn't hurt. Just because you don't have the experience doesn't mean you can't do it.''

But having the pitchers who know how to do it might make the biggest difference of all.

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CAPTION(S):

9 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) With John Lackey, left, pitching well and Orlando Cabrera getting on base, things are looking up for the Angels.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

(2 -- color) Injuries have limited outfielder Garret Anderson this season, and the veteran could be moved down in the batting order.

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

(3 -- color) Rookie pitcher Jered Weaver is 6-0 with a 1.12 ERA since being called up by the Angels in late May and has been a big part of one of the top staffs in the AL.

(4 -- color) no caption (Mike Napoli)

Otto Greule Jr./Getty Images

(5 -- color) no caption (Bartolo Colon)

(6 -- color) no caption (Francisco Rodriguez)

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

(7 -- color) no caption (Orlando Cabrera)

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

(8 -- color) no caption (Vladimir Guerrero)

Robert Laberger/Getty Images

(9 -- color) no caption (Tim Salmon)

Rob Leiter/Getty Images

Box:

(1) Angel's MIDSEASON REPORT CARD

By Doug Padilla

(2) ANGELS FIRST-HALF STATISTICS

(3) DO THE SPLITS