IT'S TYING TIMES FOR ANGELS LOSS HELPS A'S PULL EVEN IN AL WEST TAMPA BAY 6, ANGELS 4.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - They have one game remaining today against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, so the Angels would prefer to defer any thoughts about the Oakland Athletics until Tuesday, when the American League West powers clash in the East Bay.

But on Saturday night, after the Devil Rays held off the Angels 6-4 in front of 43,909 at Angel Stadium, there was no ignoring the A's. The object gaining quickly in their rearview mirror had finally pulled even.

The A's 16-1 dismantling of the Kansas City Royals pushed them into a first-place tie with the Angels, the first time since June 7 that owner Arte Moreno's $95 million ballclub didn't own sole possession of first place.

So while the plucky A's got a home run for the fourth consecutive game from rookie Dan Johnson, the Angels floundered against Devil Rays starter Mark Hendrickson (6.75 ERA coming in) and stranded six runners in the final four innings as a comeback from a 6-1 hole fell short.

With Darin Erstad nursing a bum hip and Steve Finley also on the bench while attempting to turn back the hands of time, the Angels offered up a lineup that had .237-hitting Juan Rivera in the No. 3 spot.

With starter Jarrod Washburn nursing elbow inflammation, the pesky Rays lineup feasted on the mislocated offerings of fill-in starter Chris Bootcheck, a pitcher who relies on precision but instead found the sweet spot of several bats in his 3 2/3-inning, six-run outing.

Little wonder, then, that the Angels fell into a tie with the A's, who on May 29 were 12 1/2 games out of first place. But a 16-2 sprint has capped a white-hot two months for Oakland, and now the Angels will have no edge for the final 52 games of the year.

Gone is a lead that as recently as July 18 was eight games. Gone is any notion that the Angels might have a free ride to a division title, not that they entertained such a thought, anyway.

``There's no reason to scoreboard-watch,'' manager Mike Scioscia said. ``We knew it would be a tough race. It's panned out to be that. We get into our game, we'll achieve our goal. You're into a 50-plus game season now. Destiny's in your own hand.''

By next week, Washburn likely will have re-joined the rotation and the Angels hope to have Kelvim Escobar return by early September. But the Angels have lost eight of 12 games for myriad reasons, like a sputtering offense that ran cold, hot and cold Saturday.

They managed just a Jose Molina home run through five innings against Hendrickson before chasing the erstwhile NBA power forward in the sixth. Consecutive doubles by Orlando Cabrera, Rivera and Vladimir Guerrero and a Garret Anderson infield single finished the 6-foot-10 lefty.

A Bengie Molina sacrifice fly made it 6-4 and the Angels eventually loaded the bases, but Chone Figgins, mired in an 0-for-13 slide, hit a weak fly ball to center to end the inning.

In the seventh, the Angels put two men on base before Joe Borowski coaxed a flyout from Bengie Molina to end the inning. An inning later, a one-out Jeff DaVanon single was erased when he was caught trying to steal second.

In the ninth, Figgins stroked a leadoff single, but closer Danys Baez, one pitch after breaking the belt on his pants, induced a Cabrera double-play ball. After Rivera singled, Guerrero grounded out and Baez had his 23rd save.

But it was Bootcheck who ensured the Angels would have an unlikely uphill climb to victory.

Bootcheck was a first-round pick in 2000, but his lack of an overpowering fastball doesn't fit the organization's preferred profile of a power arm. He made it up for one start in 2003, then foundered on the fringes of the organization until this year, when he posted a 0.60 ERA in four games, including a start at Yankee Stadium.

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, 4 boxes

Photo:

Tampa Bay's Julio Lugo is congratulated by teammates after scoring on a sacrifice fly by Aubrey Huff in the third inning on Saturday.

Chris Pizzello/Associated Press

Box:

(1) ANGELS vs. TAMPA BAY

- Gabe Lacques

(2) GAME RECAP

(3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED

(4) ANGELS ALMANAC