ANGELS SAVE PERCIVAL FOR CHANGE CLOSER SURRENDERS LEAD BUT ANDERSON DOWNS DODGERS IN NINTH ANGELS 6, DODGERS 5.

Byline: Gordon Verrell Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Troy Percival, the Angels' crack reliever, finally blew a save. But the Angels didn't blow the game.

Garret Anderson's two-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth inning broke a tie and enabled the Angels to slip past the Dodgers 6-5 in an interleague game in front of 43,429 fans, the largest crowd of the season at Edison Field.

After Troy Glaus, who was inserted into the lineup as the designated hitter for the first time all season, failed to drive home the winning run, Dodgers veteran left-hander Jesse Orosco replaced Matt Herges.

Anderson, a left-handed batter, has done some of his best work against lefties. He came in hitting .297 against them, though he hadn't had the same success over the years against Orosco.

Yet Anderson stroked a line-drive single to right that easily scored Darin Erstad from second for the game-winner.

``Garret has been streaky this year,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said, ``but right now, particularly against the Dodgers, he's got some real clutch hits. And we need that.''

Twice last week at Dodger Stadium, Anderson won games with home runs.

With the win, the Angels halted a four-game losing streak and also stopped the Dodgers' three-game winning streak.

``Obviously, that was a tough game to lose,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. ``One thing about tonight that was unfortunate was the way the ball bounced.''

It certainly bounced well for the Angels. Anderson bounced a two-run double over Eric Karros' head in the third inning. And David Eckstein got a bouncing infield single to start the Angels' winning rally in the ninth.

Until the ninth, the Angels were in charge, mostly because of the work by starter Jarrod Washburn, who hurled eight strong innings to match his longest start of the year. Then he turned over a 5-3 lead to Percival.

All season, Percival, the Angels' overpowering bullpen closer, had allowed one earned run. He'd been perfect - 16 for 16 - in save opportunities.

Then came the ninth.

Even against the heart of the Dodgers' order, Percival appeared well on his way to save No. 17 when he fanned Shawn Green for the first out. But then he walked Gary Sheffield on a 3-2 breaking pitch, bringing Karros to the plate.

It was just the second game back for Karros after a three-week stay on the disabled list. No curveballs for Karros. Percival gave him nothing but heat, three times hitting 99 mph on the radar gun. But Karros got into one, launching a high drive to left-center for his sixth home run to tie the score 5-5.

It was the first homer allowed by Percival, whose earned-run average ``ballooned'' from 0.36 to 1.05.

``Troy didn't get it in the exact location he wanted,'' Scioscia said, ``and we had a tie ballgame.''

Percival (3-1) at least got a reprieve - and the win - thanks to the Angels' ninth-inning rally.

Eckstein started it with an infield single off Herges (4-5). Adam Kennedy sacrificed and Erstad was walked intentionally. Glaus, who had started 65 consecutive games this season at third base before becoming the DH on Saturday, hit a chopper to third and Adrian Beltre tagged Eckstein for the second out.

Next was Anderson, and Orosco took over. Anderson was just 2 for 13 in his career against Orosco, with three strikeouts and no runs batted in. But he slapped a 2-1 pitch to right to drive in Erstad with the winning run.

Washburn scattered six hits - two of them home runs, by Chad Kreuter and Paul Lo Duca - in his eight innings. He had a one-hit shutout and a 5-0 lead through five innings until Kreuter - who was 3 for 4 in his career against Washburn coming in - slugged his second homer into the left-field seats.

In the eighth, Washburn gave up a two-out single to Alex Cora, then Lo Duca's seventh homer to cut the Angels' lead to 5-3.

Erstad singled home the Angels' first run in the third, and two more scored on Anderson's bouncing double to right. The Angels added two more in the fifth against Dodgers starter Terry Adams on a double by Eckstein, two walks, a wild pitch and a successful double steal.

Then came the ninth, when Karros, with one swing, wiped out the Angels' lead. It was Percival's first blown save since last Sept. 20, against Kansas City, ending a two-season string of 18 consecutive saves. And it was the first homer off Percival in 35 innings, since last Aug. 26.

``That's the nature of short relief,'' Scioscia said. ``Troy can deal with it. He knows he'll be back out there (today) in the same situation. And Troy will get it done.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos