ANGELS SHOW SINGLE PURPOSE SMALL-BALL VICTORY SETS UP SHOWDOWN FOR FIRST IN SEATTLE ANGELS 5, OAKLAND 4.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - If only the baseball season ended in July, the Angels might have won 10 division titles by now, played in a few World Series and had a few championship rings. But it doesn't, which would explain the Angels' businesslike mentality after Thursday afternoon's 5-4 victory over the Oakland A's.

With an Edison Field crowd of 31,653 on its feet, Angels reliever Ben Weber got Miguel Tejada to ground out for the final out and left the Angels in position to move into first place in the American League West, pending a loss by the Mariners later Thursday night.

First place would have to wait, because the Mariners beat the Rangers to remain one game ahead of the Angels, setting up a weekend showdown between the two teams starting tonight in Seattle.

``When you pick up the paper on the last day of the season and you're in first place, that's when you get excited,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``This season is such a monster. The only way to beat it is to have that day-to-day approach. We have a long-term idea of where we want to be, but the short-term process has to be prevalent to slay the beast.''

The Angels are content to conquer their demons one win at a time, and Thursday it was one single at a time. All 13 of their hits were singles, but they were timely as the Angels scored all five runs with two outs.

David Eckstein matched a career high with four hits, but Garret Anderson (Kennedy High of Granada Hills) delivered the game-winner. With the game tied 4-4 with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, A's manager Art Howe brought in closer Billy Koch to face Anderson.

Anderson reached out and popped up a 96-mph fastball to shallow left field. With A's left fielder Adam Piatt playing deep, the ball fell in for an RBI single.

``When you're facing a guy like that, all you're trying to do is put the ball in play,'' said Anderson, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games. ``At that point in the game, he's going to have to beat me by striking me out. I just got lucky. The ball dropped where nobody was playing. He did his job; he got me to pop it up. But in (today's) paper, it's still a single.''

The Angels had to come from behind, rallying from a 3-0 deficit. Tim Salmon's two-run single in the fifth got the Angels on the scoreboard, and after the A's scored a run in the top of the sixth, the Angels got RBI singles from Jorge Fabregas and Eckstein in the bottom of the inning to tie it.

It then came down to a battle of bullpens, and the Angels were up to the task. After Angels starter Ramon Ortiz (5 1/3 innings, four runs, eight hits) left the game, Scot Shield (3-1) threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings, setting the stage for Weber in the ninth.

Weber, taking over the closer's role while Troy Percival recovers from a infection on his left foot, got three consecutive groundouts to end it and earn his fifth save.

After the game, the Angels quickly packed their bags, boarded a bus for the airport and flew north to Seattle. They won five of six from the Mariners and A's on the homestand, but in their minds they've accomplished nothing. At least not yet.

``There's so many games with those teams left, we've got to keep up,'' Eckstein said. ``If we stop now, we're not going to be anywhere at the end of the season.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Anaheim's Darin Erstad is welcomed into the dugout after scoring the game-winner Thursday at Edison Field.

Ric Francis/Associated Press

(2) GARRET ANDERSON

He drove in the game-winning run for the Angels on Thursday to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.