ANGELS NOTEBOOK: STRETCH RUN IS ON IN EARNEST.

Byline: Kevin Modesti Daily News Staff Writer

After their final interleague game Tuesday and a flight to Detroit today, the Angels begin what can finally be called the stretch run.

They and the American League West-leading Seattle Mariners play the same teams the rest of the way. But that doesn't mean their remaining schedules are equivalent.

The Mariners have two advantages: They will host the last two Anaheim-Seattle games Sept. 23-24. And they will face the Oakland A's seven times while the Angels get the league's worst team only twice.

``I can't worry about it,'' Angels manager Terry Collins said Tuesday. ``When you're chasing somebody, you can't worry about them because if you don't win your games, you can't catch them.

``I know who we play, and I'll get our team ready to play those games.''

Curiously, all of the remaining opponents for both teams are under .500, except for each other.

The Angels open a four-game series against the Tigers on Thursday. They have 23 games left.

DeLucia returns: Left-hander Rich DeLucia, activated from the disabled list Tuesday after missing 45 games following surgery to repair an aneurism in his arm, said the only remaining discomfort is caused by the scar.

His fingers no longer are numb. That was his first symptom in July.

DeLucia (6-3, 2.41, three saves) said he will know how sharp he is after he pitches in a real game.

``I really need that adrenaline rush,'' he said.

Nice try: Collins expressed admiration for Mark Langston, the veteran left-hander whose attempt to come back for September ended with elbow pain when he tried to warm up for a simulated game Monday.

``What this guy has gone through the last couple of months, and then to have it blow up yesterday, it hurts,'' Collins said.

PR man: Infielder Randy Velarde, limited to pinch running in his return from elbow surgery, is old enough at 34 to remember Herb Washington, the A's pinch-running specialist of the '70s.

Velarde said the difference is that ``I've got about half his wheels.''

Velarde provided a subtle bright spot in the Angels' 4-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies Monday when, in his first official act of '97, he slid hard into second base trying to break up the game-ending double play.