ANGELS ON TOP : ANGELS 9 CHICAGO 1.

Byline: Marc J. Spears Daily News Staff Writer

It has been a tough climb for the Angels, but they finally took over the top of the hill.

Anaheim last held first place in the American League Western Division on June 10 but fell from the coveted spot and failed in nine chances to regain the position.

On Friday night, the Angels finally vaulted the Seattle Mariners to regain first place with an easy 9-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox in front of 20,953 at Anaheim Stadium.

The Mariners fell 8-3 at Milwaukee to open the door for a division rival's leapfrog.

``With what we have been through the last few months after playing so hard,'' said Angels manager Terry Collins, ``we deserve to be in first place. I hope we stay there for a while. We will enjoy it.''

While Anaheim starter Allen Watson notched a career-high ninth win in a nearly unscathed performance, his teammates maximized their eight hits by scoring nine runs.

During Watson's previous four major-league seasons, he never eclipsed the eight-win mark. With two months of play remaining, the lefthander surpassed the mark by improving to 9-6.

In eight innings, the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder struck out seven and only allowed one run on eight hits and 122 pitches. After going 0-1 in his last four starts, Watson earned his first win since July 10 at Oakland.

``(My teammates) gave me a lot of runs,'' Watson said. ``That was the biggest difference. It is a lot easier to pitch when you have nine runs behind you.''

In two games against Chicago, the Angels have scored 21 runs on 24 hits. Leading Friday's hot hit parade were Darin Erstad, Dave Hollins and Tim Salmon, the American League Player of the Month for July. Each went 2 for 4 in the contest.

Erstad had three RBI, three runs and a two-run homer. The first baseman has 23 hits in his last 66 at-bats (.348). Hollins and Tony Phillips each scored three runs.

Salmon had four RBI and has hit safely in 11 of the last 13 games, going 20 for 49 (.408).

``I guess I wish July never ended,'' Salmon said. ``But maybe it won't. But I'm more impressed with the efforts we are getting from everybody.''

After practically giving away three pitchers to San Francisco before Thursday's trade deadline, the White Sox turned to ``Air'' for some help. No, it wasn't Michael Jordan - he is expected to play for the Chicago Bulls next season and not make another weak attempt at a baseball career with the White Sox.

Instead, Scott Eyre - pronounced ``air'' - was called up from Double-A Birmingham for his major-league debut. The left-hander led the Southern League in wins (13), ERA (3.84) and strikeouts (127).

With that in mind, the Angels welcomed the 25-year-old rookie to The Show by tagging him for six runs on six hits in 4-1/3 innings.

The Angels' major offensive outburst came in the opening inning, as Erstad's RBI single and Salmon's two-run double gave them a 3-0 advantage. Anaheim added a Garret Anderson RBI single in the third and a two-run homer by Erstad in the fourth to jump ahead 6-0 before Eyre's departure.

``They don't make any mistakes here,'' said Eyre (0-1), who was born in Inglewood. ``In the minors you can get away with the mistakes once in a while.''

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Photo, Box

Photo: (Color) Tony Phillips slides safely into second base as Chicago's Chris Snopek takes the throw from first.

Associated Press

Box: ANGELS TODAY