GOING, GOING . . . ; ANGELS DROP TWO GAMES BEHIND RANGERS : TEXAS 9, ANGELS 1.

Byline: Joe Haakenson

Pity the poor Texas Rangers. Little do they know, the Angels have them right where they want them.

The Angels have been at their best when presented with imposing obstacles, and after Tuesday night's 9-1 loss to the Rangers, they face their most difficult challenge yet.

After Rangers starter Rick Helling got his 20th victory of the season with eight stellar innings, the Angels find themselves two games behind the Rangers with five to play. What that means is the Angels no longer control their own destiny. They could win all five of their remaining games and lose the division title.

But no one in the Angels clubhouse seems ready to concede anything.

``I've never been around a group of guys that pulled together like them,'' Angels manager Terry Collins said of his team. ``They've been through too many instances where they could have said `Forget it.' But they haven't. We've always bounced back.''

What the Angels seemed to forget Tuesday was how to play sound, fundamental baseball. Of the Rangers nine runs, three were unearned. The Angels made three errors, including one by starting pitcher Chuck Finley that proved to be the final blow.

Finley (11-9) kept the Angels close through six innings as the Rangers led 1-0. But he asked for trouble by walking Royce Clayton and Luis Alicea to start the seventh.

When Roberto Kelly bunted, Finley threw the ball down the right-field line for an error allowing one run to score and giving the Rangers runners on second and third with nobody out.

The Rangers scored two more runs in the inning, both charged to Finley, who fell to 0-4 against the Rangers this season and 7-16 in his career. Finley went 6-1/3 innings, allowed four runs (one earned) and four hits. He struck out seven but also walked a season-high seven (one intentional).

The Rangers added insult to injury in the eighth with three home runs - a three-run homer by Luis Alicea and solo homers by Rusty Greer and Juan Gonzalez.

Of course, it didn't really matter how many runs the Rangers scored with the way Helling pitched. Helling gave up one run and three hits in eight innings. He struck out five and walked none while becoming the third Rangers pitcher in club history to win 20 games in a season. The others are Ferguson Jenkins (1974) and Kevin Brown (1992).

Helling was nothing like the pitcher he was last Thursday, when the Angels ripped him for six runs and seven hits in 1-1/3 innings. Fortunately for Helling, the Rangers rallied to win that one.

Tuesday, Helling (20-7) retired 10 in a row before the Angels had their first baserunner. Randy Velarde doubled with one out in the fourth inning, but two outs later he was still on second as the inning ended.

The Angels didn't have another baserunner until Todd Greene singled with two out in the sixth. But Velarde hit into a force play to end the inning.

Finley, meanwhile, settled into a groove after dancing his way out of several jams in the early innings. The Angels made a first-inning error - just like they did Monday - that led to an unearned run.

Alicea led off the game with a walk and took second when Angels third baseman Troy Glaus bobbled Kelly's chopper for an error. One out later, Will Clark singled home Alicea for a 1-0 Rangers lead.

Finley escaped further damage when Ivan Rodriguez lined into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO (Color) Texas' Royce Clayton, right, is forced out by second baseman Randy Velarde.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

BOX: DOWN TO THE WIRE

The Angels lost to Texas 9-1 Tuesday to fall two games behind the Rangers in the AL West. They play each other once more today. The standings with four games remaining.