COLON NOT NEEDED TO FINISH D-RAYS ANGELS 6, TAMPA BAY 4.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Driven by a sense of responsibility and inspired by the presence of his parents at Tropicana Field on Wednesday, Bartolo Colon walked up to Angels manager Mike Scioscia before the ninth inning with a simple request:

Let me finish.

Despite the fact Colon already had burned 110 pitches, Scioscia let him head back out, and Colon nearly came home with his first complete game for the Angels.

Instead, he fell one out short and had to sweat through the most erratic one-out mop-up job of Francisco Rodriguez's career. But Colon and the Angels got the victory, 6-4 over Tampa Bay, and that would have to suffice.

They remained two games behind Oakland in the American League West and 1 1/2 games behind Boston and Texas in the wild-card race. Just 42 games remain, and as Rodriguez noted, ``We're already in the stretch, man.''

That's why Colon wanted so badly to finish. He led the AL with nine complete games last season but has none this season. The Angels bullpen absorbed its share of innings thanks to his early-season foibles, and he wanted to pay them back.

Although he didn't have the complete game to show for it, Colon (12-9) has been doing just that lately. He won for the seventh time in eight starts, a span in which he has a 3.23 ERA.

In 8 2/3 innings, he gave up just three hits and two runs, walking three and striking out five.

``He had the stuff,'' catcher Jose Molina said, ``to do whatever he wanted.''

He always has his way against the Devil Rays (55-65). He came in 6-0 against them lifetime and held them hitless for three innings. Tampa Bay handed the Angels two runs with defensive miscues, and Vladimir Guerrero drove in two more with his 26th home run and a double.

Colon took a 6-1 lead into the ninth and struck out Aubrey Huff for the first out. But in walking Jose Cruz Jr. and getting Julio Lugo to pop to first, Colon burned 12 more pitches, and Scioscia decided 128 pitches were enough, even though Colon was still hitting 95 mph on the radar gun.

Colon and his parents share a fear of flying, so they typically only see him pitch at sites close to their home in the Dominican Republic. They made an exception in April, when Colon won at Seattle and Texas in his first two starts and Colon said ``they bring me luck.''

They nearly brought him a complete game.

``I asked God to please help me get this complete game,'' Colon said through an interpreter. ``When I work out hard in April, I think about days like this, when the team needs a push, and I can go seven, eight, nine innings for my ballclub, as I did tonight.''

Rodriguez nearly frittered it all away.

He and Molina quickly recognized he could not get his slider over the plate, and Rodriguez's task - getting one lousy out - soon grew more complicated.

Rodriguez walked his first batter, Toby Hall. Geoff Blum delivered an RBI single, making it 6-2, and lightly regarded Jorge Cantu delivered a two-run double.

It was now 6-4 and emerging from the dugout to pinch hit was the aging but still capable Tino Martinez. The young and dangerous Carl Crawford represented the winning run on deck.

``Who would you prefer to hit - Tino or Carl Crawford?'' Molina asked. ``Who can tie it with one swing? I'll pitch to Crawford.''

So Rodriguez pitched around Martinez, dropping a full-count slider just outside the strike zone for ball four.

The drama ended there, however, as Crawford grounded to second.

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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