HISTORIC SAVES FOR PERCIVAL HE GETS TWO SAVES AGAINST ROYALS ANGELS 6-3, K.C. 5-1.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Troy Percival insists he doesn't look at the numbers. Not yet anyway.

But the numbers the Angels' closer is putting up in his career are difficult to ignore, and Saturday night he not only reached another milestone, but he did something no Angel pitcher had ever done before.

Percival pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the first game of the Angels' doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals, earning the save in a 6-5 victory. Then 2 1/2 hours later, Percival pitched the ninth inning of the second game, earning another save in a 3-1 victory and a doubleheader sweep in front of a sellout crowd of 43,0444 at Edison Field.

Percival's two saves in one day were a first in Angels history, and they were his 30th and 31st of the season, marking the sixth consecutive season he's had at least 30. He's had at least 30 saves in seven of his eight seasons as the Angels' closer, falling short with 27 in 1997 when he missed five weeks with a sore shoulder.

``I think I'll appreciate it when I'm done playing,'' Percival said. ``That's when I'll look back and say I've had a productive career. Heck, if I quit now I could say I had a productive career. ... But I'd appreciate it more if I wasn't on the (disabled list) that one year.''

Percival might have fooled the Royals with an unusually high number of breaking pitches in the first game. He started three of the four hitters he faced with breaking balls, and also struck out Carlos Beltran on a 77-mph curveball.

``I've been working on it as much as I can,'' he said. ``I know I've had to take a couple steps back to move forward, but my last two times out it's felt a lot better.''

Using his curveball makes his 97-mph fastball more difficult to hit, but the key is Percival's ability to throw the breaking pitches for strikes.

``Tonight I think he had as good breaking-ball command as we've seen all year,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``Combine that with hitting spots and throwing hard, he's very tough to hit. He did a great job.''

In the second game, Percival threw only two breaking balls out of his 18 pitches, but he was just as effective. The only baserunners he allowed Saturday were two walks - both to Raul Ibanez - one in the first game and one in the second.

Scioscia rarely lets Percival pitch more than one inning a night, but Saturday was an exception.

Joe Haakenson, [phone]

joe.haakenson(at)sgvn.com