ANGELS NOTEBOOK: DEFENSE HAS BEEN NEGLECTED.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- As the Angels struggle to put together a consistent offense, one casualty of their focus has been team defense.

Adam Kennedy, Orlando Cabrera, Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero are having below-average defensive seasons, compared to what they have shown previously. Garret Anderson, who has been slowed by a sore arch, also has not been at his best with the glove.

``We're trying to concentrate so much on offense and the scoreboard we forgot to keep playing good defense,'' Cabrera said. ``We've kind of carried that through he season.''

The Angels' .979 fielding percentage entering Tuesday's game was the worst in the American League. Their 43unearned runs allowed also were tops in the AL. They added another in the fourthinning Tuesday and are now one more unearned run from matching their entire total from last season, and there still are 98 games to play.

Kennedy and Figgins might have been the central figures in a clubhouse rift earlier this season, but Kennedy said his teammate shouldn't be criticized for his play in the field.

Scioscia confirmed that the team not only is working on its defense before games, players are taking a ``very aggressive'' approach in an attempt to improve.

--Cabrera's streak continues: Orlando Cabrera's hot streak at the plate continued, as he had singles in his first two at-bats Tuesday. Cabrera has now reached base via hit, walk or hit by pitch in his past 43games. It is the longest active on-base streak.

Cabrera gave much of the credit for the streak to hitting out of the No. 2 hole in the lineup, where he can bat in front of either Anderson or Guerrero.

--Close call: The Angels received a giant scare in the first inning when Guerrero knelt to the ground in pain after an awkward slide into third base. Guerrero had just delivered an RBI double and was trying to stretch it into a triple when he was hurt.

After a visit by Scioscia and trainer Rick Smith, Guerrero left the field under his own power and remained in the game. Guerrero has been on the disabled list five times in his career, the last being last season when he had a partial separation of his left shoulder.

--Also: The Angels announced their rescheduled game for Aug. 7 at Chicago will be televised by FSN West. ... Guerrero continues to lead all AL outfielders in All-Star Game voting. He is one of four AL players with over a million votes. The other three are Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez.