JUAN-OF-A-KIND HOME RUN CLEVELAND 6, ANGELS 5.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

CLEVELAND - It didn't matter that Chuck Finley wasn't speaking to the media after Thursday night's game between the Cleveland Indians and Angels. The bat of Juan Gonzalez was loud enough.

The Indians outfielder led off the eighth inning with a spectacular swing, reaching out over the far side of the plate to deposit a tiebreaking homer over the left-field wall at Jacobs Field for a 6-5 victory over the Angels before 29,427 fans.

Shigetoshi Hasegawa, the Angels' second reliever to follow starter Pat Rapp, got ahead in the count to Gonzalez 1-2 leading off the eighth. Then he threw a slider on the outside part of the plate and at the shins, but Gonzalez was able to extend his arms and get enough of the ball to hit his eighth home run of the season.

``That was my best pitch,'' Hasegawa said. ``Maybe I should have bounced the ball.''

If anybody else is batting, Hasegawa said, ``maybe a strikeout, maybe they're not going to swing.''

In fact, Hasegawa (1-2) said the only bad pitch he made in his inning of work was the fastball he left up to Ellis Burks, who doubled.

``Except for that pitch, I was perfect,'' Hasegawa said.

Finley, who refused to speak with reporters after the game, was making his fourth career start against his former team and got roughed up for five runs in the first three innings. He settled down and went seven, leaving with the game tied at 5.

Rapp, staked to a 3-0 lead in the first, gave up five in the bottom of the inning. One of the runs was unearned because right fielder Tim Salmon dropped a line drive by Russell Branyan.

Rapp got in trouble quickly by walking two of the first three hitters he faced.

``I think I tried to bear down too much and put a zero up after we scored three,'' Rapp said. ``My walks have come down the last two games, but walking two in the first inning ... that's not my game.''

Rapp was a different pitcher after the first, throwing five scoreless innings while allowing only two hits. But the damage had been done.

``You can't set the table for the big guys with walks,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``He had trouble getting his fastball in the zone. But once he got his bearings, he did a great job.''

The Angels rallied to tie it in the third on Salmon's two-run homer. He also doubled off Finley in the first inning before striking out against him in the fifth. In four career games against Finley, including three last season, Salmon is hitting .636 (7 for 11) with four homers.

``I can't explain it,'' Salmon said. ``Sometimes against a real good pitcher, it brings out the best in you. Maybe because I've seen how tough he is so many years, I'm up for it. It's like facing Pedro (Martinez), it brings everybody up to a different level.''

With both Finley and Rapp dominating in the middle innings, it came down to a battle of bullpens down the stretch. The Angels couldn't score against Paul Shuey (1-1) or Bob Wickman (fourth save), and Gonzalez got just enough against Hasegawa.

``You can throw a pitch almost in the dirt and he can pop it out,'' Rapp said. ``It doesn't even look like he swings that hard. Maybe his wood's better, I don't know.''

Added Salmon: ``He's a great hitter, man. He hit a good pitch. That's what happens when he gets his big, long arms extended. It's just Juan. He can hit a pitcher's good pitches out like that.''

Scioscia, though, wouldn't pin the loss on Gonzalez's homer. There were other plays the Angels didn't make that added up to a loss. Besides Salmon's error, Orlando Palmeiro popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt and Jose Fernandez got picked off when the hit-and-run was on.

``When you play a good club, you can't leave the door open with mistakes,'' Scioscia said. ``You want to play a tight brand of baseball. And you have to play aggressive without shooting yourself in the foot.''

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Photo:

Anaheim's Garret Anderson reacts after striking out Thursday against Cleveland Indians' reliever Paul Shuey at Jacobs Field.

Tony Dejak/Associated Press