FASSERO CAN'T PULL FAST ONE PAST ERSTAD : ANGELS 4, SEATTLE 2.

Byline: Joe Haakenson San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Seattle Mariners pitcher Jeff Fassero made the Angels' Darin Erstad look foolish with two breaking balls out of the strike zone in the seventh inning Wednesday night.

Erstad swung at and missed both, falling behind in the count 1-2 when Fassero got foolish.

Fassero left a slider up in the strike zone, and when the baseball finally landed in the right-field seats, the Angels had taken a 3-2 lead on their way to a 4-2 win before 24,800 at Edison Field.

It was the Angels' 15th win in their past 17 games and increased their lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West to 1-1/2 games. The Mariners, meanwhile, fell deeper into last place, 13 games behind the Angels.

Erstad's team-leading 16th home run of the season woke up the crowd and an Angels offense that appeared to be lulled into a trance against Fassero.

Fassero (5-4) gave up a first-inning run on Tim Salmon's RBI single but allowed only three hits during the next five innings as the Mariners took a 2-1 lead. But in the seventh, after Justin Baughman singled and took second on Gary DiSarcina's sacrifice bunt, Erstad turned the game upside down.

``I guarantee that's not where he wanted to throw that ball,'' Erstad said of Fassero. ``He threw me two sliders in the dirt and I missed both of them. He pretty much owned me the whole night. I was fortunate to get that one.

``He's one of the toughest lefties in the league because he's not going to give you much to hit. So when you do get that opportunity, you better take advantage of it.''

``You go out and talk to (Erstad) right now and he'll be more frustrated because he didn't drive in the runner from third base (in the second inning) than he is happy about the home run,'' Angels manager Terry Collins said. ``This kid, he doesn't like to fail.''

The comeback was made possible because Angels starter Omar Olivares managed to get through some tough innings and keep the Mariners from running away with it. Olivares (5-2) went eight innings, allowing two runs and four hits. He has now pitched into the seventh inning in seven consecutive starts. The key for Olivares is his sinker, which he needs to keep down in the strike zone in order to get ground-ball outs. Wednesday, he got 17 ground-ball outs.

``Every spring training you sit down and go over everybody and you say you expect this and this and this,'' Collins said. ``If somebody surprises you, you can be a good team. (Olivares) has been our surprise.''

Olivares said his success is no surprise to him, even though last year he went 6-10 with the Mariners and Tigers.

``These guys just let me do what I do, they have confidence in me to pitch,'' said Olivares, whose ERA fell to 2.70. ``Last year I didn't pitch on a regular basis. I have to throw a lot or I lose my mechanics. Last year I got skipped a couple times. I'm not blaming nobody, it was just tough for me to do.''

Troy Percival pitched the ninth and earned his league-leading 22nd save.

The Angels jumped on Fassero early before he settled down. In the first inning, Dave Hollins walked, went to third on a single by Jim Edmonds and scored on a single by Salmon. The Angels, however, got only two more hits during the next four innings. During one stretch from the third inning to the sixth, Fassero retired nine consecutive batters.

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PHOTO DARIN ERSTAD

His home run off Seattle pitcher Jeff Fassero powered the Angels to their 15th win in the past 17 games.