ANGELS SQUEEZE OUT WIN; DISARCINA'S BUNT SPARKS RALLY IN 5TH : ANGELS 2, KANSAS CITY 1.

Byline: Frank Girardot

Forget about the long ball. It was the short ball, a one-out suicide squeeze bunt, that helped the Angels to victory Saturday.

Gary DiSarcina's daring bunt in the fifth inning scored Chris Pritchett and sparked a two-run rally in the Angels' 2-1 win over the Royals before 37,217 at Edison International Field.

Minnesota's 7-4 victory over the Rangers earlier in the day helped the Angels increase their lead to 2-1/2 games in the AL West.

Starter Jack McDowell got the win, improving to 4-3 this season and 2-1 since coming off the disabled list. Kansas City rookie Brian Barber (2-2) took the loss.

Reliever Rick DeLucia got the save for the Angels, his third.

But it was another bittersweet win for Anaheim, which learned that closer Troy Percival will be unavailable for at least one more day because of weakness in his right shoulder.

``It's gotten weak and I have to get it stronger again,'' Percival said. ``It was inevitable.''

Another strong effort from McDowell was the key to Saturday's victory, Angels manager Terry Collins said.

``We have to tip our hat to Jack McDowell,'' Collins said. ``He was outstanding. He kept us in the ballgame when we did not swing the bats good.''

The lack of offense led Collins to call for the squeeze bunt in the fifth.

``We put it on, and Gary did a good job,'' Collins said. ``That was not an easy pitch to get on.''

Gregg Jefferies followed the bunt with a single to drive in Matt Walbeck for a 2-0 lead.

Following the game, McDowell said he felt good, but reiterated his desire to retire after the season ends.

``I never really envisioned myself becoming some other type of pitcher than I was,'' McDowell explained. ``I had a little better splitter tonight. As I go on I'm getting better at doing some of the newer things, which is an adjustment.''

The Royals' lone run came on a one-out home run by third baseman Dean Palmer in the seventh inning.

The Angels had a great chance to get that run back and then some in the eighth, but they were turned away by Royals reliever Matt Whisenant, who pitched out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out Jim Edmonds, Garret Anderson and Todd Greene.

The Angels' lone hit through the first three innings was a leadoff single by Jefferies in the first. The hit was the 1,500th of his career. On the night, Jefferies was 3 for 4 with one stolen base and extended his hitting streak to six games.

``It was nice because my parents are here,'' Jefferies said. ``But overall I'm just glad we won. We really tried to bear down.''

After getting two runs to work with, McDowell settled down and pitched a solid sixth, but he couldn't get out of the seventh.

After striking out Jose Offerman, McDowell threw a waist-high fastball to Palmer, who slugged a 431-foot homer to center. After giving up singles to Jeff Conine and Hal Morris, McDowell was pulled in favor of Pep Harris.

McDowell pitched 6-2/3 innings, allowed one run on six hits and struck out five.

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PHOTO Kansas City's Jose Offerman walks away from second base as the Angels' Gregg Jefferies flips over after breaking up a double play.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press