HOT RANGERS TORCH SLUMPING ANGELS : TEXAS 9 ANGELS 5.

Byline: Associated Press 

There's been no July meltdown by the Texas Rangers this summer, at least not so far.

The Rangers, who have often faded in the height of the Texas heat, won their fourth straight Wednesday night, 9-5 over the Angels.

``That's in the past,'' said Rangers DH Rafael Palmeiro, who had two hits and two RBI. ``This year we've got a lot of home games the second half of the season. We paid the price in the first half and now we're taking advantage.''

Ivan Rodriguez had three hits and Todd Zeile hit a two-run double in a six-run second inning as the Rangers improved to 6-1 since the All-Star break.

During the streak, the Rangers have been thriving offensively with patient at-bats and without home runs. Texas hasn't homered during the four-game winning streak and of its 13 hits on Wednesday night, only three went for extra bases.

``Still no home runs,'' manager Johnny Oates said. ``We're happy with this offense. We're working at taking pitches and taking walks. We're still aggressive but we're not swinging at the 59-foot curveball or the fastball over our heads.''

Before the season, it appeared this series might be a key showdown in the AL West race. But the last-place Angels lost their sixth in a row, matching their longest losing streak of the year, and dropped 11-1/2 games behind division-leading Texas. Yet nobody in the Rangers clubhouse was dismissing the Angels.

``This is July 21,'' the Rangers' Mark McLemore said. ``There are a lot of games left. Nothing is over.''

Aaron Sele (9-6), given a 9-3 lead, allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings, including consecutive homers by Garret Anderson and Troy Glaus in the fourth. Jeff Zimmerman got two outs for his second save.

Rangers closer John Wetteland was not available for the second straight game because of a stiff back.

Omar Olivares (8-8) allowed eight runs and nine hits in two-plus innings, his shortest start of the season, allowing 10 of 15 batters to reach base.

``Every ball I threw was up and flat,'' Olivares said. ``The result was a disaster for us. They had good swings and they found holes. I knew I had to keep the ball down, but I couldn't do it.''

Texas went ahead in the second on Palmeiro's walk, Zeile's double, Lee Stevens' RBI groundout and Ruben Mateo's run-scoring single.

Randy Velarde doubled in a run in the third, but Texas opened the bottom half with six consecutive hits, including RBI singles by Rusty Greer and Rafael Palmeiro. Zeile's two-run double chased Olivares, Scott Schoeneweis threw a run-scoring wild pitch and Royce Clayton added an RBI triple for an 8-1 lead.

Palmeiro singled in a run in the fourth. Anaheim got a pair in the sixth on Orlando Palmeiro's run-scoring single and Matt Walbeck's RBI double.

ANGELS vs. TEXAS

Time: 5:35 p.m., at The Ballpark in Arlington.

TV/Radio: Channel 9; KLAC-AM (570), XPRS-AM (1090, Spanish).

Matchup: Steve Sparks (4-6, 5.17 ERA) faces Texas right-hander John Burkett (2-4, 5.71) in the final game of a two-game series.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

Photo: PALMEIRO

Box: ANGELS vs. TEXAS (See text)