ANGELS SELF-DESTRUCT IN SEATTLE : SEATTLE 11, ANGELS 10.

Byline: Jeff Miller Orange County Register

They've hung only a banner in center field at the Kingdome. Not an Angel.

That might come today.

Seattle's baseball team did it again Monday night. So did the Angels, a collapse of outrageous and painful proportions.

Up 9-1 entering the bottom of the fourth, the Angels lost 11-10 in front of 36,960 noisemakers. And that darn flag draped motionless against the gray ceiling.

``The day ends up being way too busy,'' Angels manager Marcel Lachemann said, ``to let a banner get in the way.''

But there it was, with the words ``1995 AL West Champions.'' And, there it was in the pregame festivities, highlights of the Mariners' 9-1 victory in the one-game playoff here last season.

That day finished the Angels' slide from division leaders by 11 games to another also-ran. Monday looked like a nine-inning tribute to that nightmare. Though records of such things aren't kept, the eight-run lead is certainly one of the largest an Angels team has ever blown.

Mike Aldrete, playing only because Chili Davis couldn't, was ready to be the hero. He had a grand slam and career-high five RBI filling in for the Angels' regular designated hitter. Davis was benched because of back spasms, a condition considered more irritating than serious.

But the Angels (5-7) fell apart, their demise coming from all directions. The eight-run lead wasn't enough for starter Shawn Boskie, who left in the sixth, after the Mariners had closed to 10-6.

Relievers Dennis Springer, Mark Holzemer and Mark Eichhorn allowed Seattle to score four runs in the seventh - on two hits, including Russ Davis' three-run double making it 10-10.

In the eighth, the Angels' ugly play infected their offense. J.T. Snow, trying to score from second on Don Slaught's single, was thrown out easily by Mariners right fielder Jay Buhner.

Then there was the winning run, set up in the bottom of the inning by Tim Salmon's error. He chased down an Edgar Martinez flyball at the fence . . . and dropped it. Buhner followed with the game-winning single.

Arias struggles: He has been mistaken for teammates Jorge Fabregas and Randy Velarde. And that's only on the odd times people identify him as a baseball player.

Going through his first trip faceless hasn't been the worst thing for rookie George Arias.

``I just wish the pitchers were like that, too,'' he said. ``I wish none of the opponents knew who I was.''

This hasn't been a kind journey for him. Arias began Monday with two hits in 16 at-bats, his average (.259) dropping almost 200 points since the team left Anaheim last week.