ANGELS STUMBLE ON CLIMB TO THE TOP PIRATES DELAY ANAHEIM'S BID FOR FIRST PITTSBURGH 7, ANGELS 4.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - The Angels were so close to first place they could almost touch it.

A check of the out-of-town scoreboard in right field Tuesday night showed the A.L. West-leading Mariners had lost to the Cardinals 7-4, meaning an Angels win would vault them into a first-place tie.

The Angels haven't been in first place in the month of June since 1998, and they still haven't, because they lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3 in front of 17,755 at Edison Field.

It was a game the Angels had a chance to win, at least until Pokey Reese's three-run double in the eighth inning off Donne Wall broke the game open. The Angels had rallied from a 4-0 deficit to get within 4-3, but Reese came up with the bases loaded and hit one off the base of the wall in left-center.

The Angels had to feel somewhat fortunate to even have a chance to win Tuesday's game considering how starter Kevin Appier pitched and how the Angels appeared to lack their usual focus and intensity.

That was evident as early as the fourth inning when left fielder Garret Anderson jogged toward Reese's fly ball to left-center. Anderson appeared as though he expected center fielder Darin Erstad would make the catch. Erstad, though, began the play aligned toward right-center and had a long way to go.

When Anderson realized Erstad couldn't get there in time, he lunged at the last moment but missed the ball. Reese had an RBI double and the Pirates had a 3-0 lead.

Appier (5-5) struggled from the start as the Pirates had at least one runner in scoring position in every inning he pitched. Appier complained of tightness in his right (pitching) forearm after his last start but said Monday the problem was gone.

However, he lasted only 4 2/3 innings and was tagged with his fourth loss in a row. After starting the season 5-1 with a 2.96 ERA in his first nine starts, he's 0-4 with a 6.41 in his past four.

Appier began the second inning by hitting Aramis Ramirez with a pitch. One out later, Kevin Young belted a two-run homer to break a scoreless tie. The Pirates threatened in the third as well, but with two on and one out, Ramirez grounded into a double play.

Appier got the first two batters in the fourth, but yielded back-to-back doubles to Rob Mackowiak and Reese and the Pirates were up, 3-0.

Appier didn't make it through the fifth inning, coming out when Craig Wilson's two-out, RBI single scored Jason Kendall to put Pittsburgh in front, 4-0.

The Angels didn't get to Pirates starter Josh Fogg (7-4) until the bottom of the fifth after Adam Kennedy's one-out triple. David Eckstein, a teammate of Fogg's at the University of Florida, drove Kennedy home with a grounder to second.

The Angels knocked Fogg out of the game in the seventh after Brad Fullmer and Scott Spiezio hit back-to-back homers, cutting the Pirates' lead to 4-3.

The Angels had a chance to tie the game later in the inning as Benji Gil, pinch hitting for Kennedy, had an infield single and stole second. But with two out, Erstad grounded out to first.

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Photo:

Angels right-fielder Tim Salmon slides and makes catch of sinking fly ball by the Pirates' Jack Wilson Tuesday night in Anaheim.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press