ANGELS STEAL AWAY WITH WIN FIGGINS' DARING BASERUNNING BURNS MARINERS IN NINTH INNING ANGELS 6, SEATTLE 5.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Much has been made of the Angels' offense, what with Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson, etc. giving no opposing pitcher room to breath.

But with all that firepower, the Angels found another way to win.

Chone Figgins didn't even pick up a bat, but his legs carried the Angels to a 6-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners Wednesday night in front of 42,888 at Angel Stadium.

Figgins stole second and third in the bottom of the ninth, then scored the game-winner on Jeff DaVanon's sacrifice fly.

Figgins entered the game to pinch run for Guerrero, who walked to lead off the ninth. Figgins then stole second as Anderson struck out. With the count 0-2 on Jose Guillen, Figgins stole third. After Guillen was hit by a pitch, DaVanon flied out to right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, whose throw was not nearly in time to get the speedy Figgins.

It was the Angels' fifth victory in five games against the Mariners this season. After tonight's game, the two teams won't play again until July 23.

The dramatic ending would not have been necessary if the Angels could have finished the game the way they drew it up. They got an adequate performance from starting pitcher Ramon Ortiz, enough offense to take a lead before giving the bullpen the opportunity to finish it.

The plan worked right up to the ninth, when Troy Percival was tagged with his first blown save of the season.

Down to their final three outs and trailing 5-4, the Mariners rallied for a run to tie the game at 5 against Percival. Dave Hansen led off with a bloop single to center, and pinch runner Willie Bloomquist stole second.

Pinch-hitter Dan Wilson followed with an RBI single to right field to tie the game, and Ichiro Suzuki then doubled off the right-field fence. However, the slow-footed Wilson held at third.

It proved to be costly for the Mariners because Percival worked his way out of the inning, getting through the Mariners' heart of the order. Percival got John Olerud on a popup to shortstop, Edgar Martinez on a foul popup to third, and Bret Boone on a fly to right.

Tim Salmon (3 for 4), Guerrero (2 for 4), Anderson (3 for 5), Shane Halter (2 for 4) and Jose Molina (2 for 3) led the Angels' 14-hit attack in support of Ortiz, who was inconsistent but was in line to earn his first victory of the season until Percival gave up the run in the ninth.

Ortiz gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking three.

``His slider is not as sharp as he needs it, but he can get around it with fastball command,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said before the game. ``That will allow him to mix in his excellent changeup with his slider, which we know will be there as we get into the season.''

Ortiz pitched well through three innings, but yielded a towering, two-run homer to Boone that tied the game at 2 in the fourth inning. The Mariners hit the ball hard again in the fifth inning, but Ortiz escaped having allowed only Olerud's RBI double.

In the sixth inning, Ortiz gave up a two-out double to Randy Winn and an RBI single to Hansen and was through for the night.

Fortunately for Ortiz and the Angels, the Mariners were playing catch-up all night, and Salmon was in the middle of every Angels scoring rally.

He keyed a two-run second inning with a double. In the fourth, Salmon hit his first homer of the season and franchise-record 289th of his career, driving in Jose Guillen ahead of him.

Then in the fifth, Salmon's two-out, RBI single drove in the Angels' fifth run of the game. However, he did miss a chance to break the game open in the seventh, coming to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out but popping out to shortstop.

The Angels didn't score in the inning, which ended when Adam Kennedy flied to left fielder Raul Ibanez, who then threw out Guerrero trying to score from third.

Joe Haakenson, [phone]

joe.haakenson(at)sgvn.com

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Photo:

(color) Angels starter Ramon Ortiz gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking three.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

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