ANGELS NOTEBOOK: PERCIVAL PREPARED TO GET BACK AT IT.

Byline: Gordon Verrell Staff Writer

The Angels' crack closer, Troy Percival, said Wednesday he was feeling much better after undergoing treatment for lower-back spasms that kept him out of Tuesday night's game - which was a save situation in the ninth inning - as well as require an MRI exam.

Manager Mike Scioscia said he wasn't overly concerned about Percival, explaining, ``We played a lot of baseball in Baltimore, we had a long plane ride home (from Tampa Bay) and we had four or five guys with similar problems, getting stiff and sore.''

``My preference,'' Scioscia said, when asked about Percival's availability, ``is to keep him down for another day.''

--Salmon impressive: Tim Salmon had one hit in Tuesday night's game, a home run to right-center, his first homer in a month - but he also walked twice, stole a base and scored two runs. All major steps, Scioscia said, in Salmon's struggle to emerge from his season-long slump.

``Tim played with confidence,'' Scioscia said, ``the sort of confidence we know is in there. It wasn't just the home run, it was his aggressiveness running the bases.''

--Gomez's big blast: The three-run homer by Tampa Bay's Chris Gomez, the former Long Beach State shortstop, in his Devil Rays debut was notable for a number of reasons.

It was his first home run in the majors in 678 days. It was also the D'Rays' first three-run homer by a shortstop in more than a year, since Kevin Stocker hit one April 5, 2000. And it was just the second homer of any kind by a D'Rays' shortstop all season.

--Sizzling Halo: Benji Gil, who is hitting a team-leading .346, is batting .367 in July, his second-poorest month last year when he hit just .218.

In his last nine starts, Gil has clubbed five home runs, one triple and four doubles. And, in his last 12 games, he's 18 for 41 (.439) with five homers and 13 runs batted in.

Gil started at second base Tuesday night and was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Wednesday night he was back on the bench.

--Collins at home with D'Rays: The third-base coach for the Devil Rays is Terry Collins, the Angels' former manager.

The current series is his first trip back to Anaheim since he was fired after the 1999 season, his third as the Angels' pilot.

Last year, Collins was a scout with the Chicago Cubs, then in November joined the Devil Rays as their bullpen coach. When Larry Rothschild was fired as manager in mid-April after only 14 games, Hal McRae, the new manager, promoted Collins to third-base coach.

ANGELS vs. TAMPA BAY

Time: Edison Field, 7:05 p.m.

TV/Radio: Channel 9/570-AM, 1090-AM (Spanish).

Matchup: Ramon Ortiz (7-7) for the Angels, Brian Rupe (4-8) for the Devil Rays. The Angels get their last crack tonight at the lowly Devil Rays, who had been scheduled to start the American League's losingest pitcher, Albie Lopez (5-12). But they traded Lopez to Arizona during Wednesday night's game, so Rupe gets the call. Rupe is 1-0 in his career against the Angels. In 1999, Rupe pitched a nine-inning one-hitter against the Angels but left without a decision; the Angels won 4-0 in 10 innings.

- Gordon Verrell

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ANGELS vs. TAMPA BAY (see text)