K-ROD CLOSES DOOR ON TIGERS ANGELS' NEW CLOSER IN SPOTLIGHT ANGELS 4, DETROIT 3.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - As Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez warmed up during the eighth inning Friday night, former Angels closer Troy Percival stood only a short distance away, leaning on the fence that separates the two-tiered bullpen area beyond the left-field fence at Angel Stadium.

With the Angels leading going into the ninth inning, Percival wore a Tigers sweatshirt over his jersey and held a cup of coffee in his hand, not a baseball.

The torch has been passed, indeed.

The stadium sound system had a distinct Latin flavor as Rodriguez sprinted to the mound, instead of Percival's heavy metal music. Rodriguez then showed a sellout crowd of 44,022 why Percival was deemed expendable, earning his eighth save of the season in the Angels' 4-3 victory.

Rodriguez uncharacteristically went to a full-count on the first three batters he faced, but he retired the first two before walking Brandon Inge. Rodriguez then got Ivan Rodriguez on a grounder to third to end it.

It was the Angels' fifth consecutive win, and it increased their American League West lead to a season-high 3 1/2 games over the second-place Texas Rangers. At 18-11, the Angels are seven games over .500 for the first time this season.

Steve Finley led the Angels' offense with a double, triple and three RBI, and starting pitcher Kelvim Escobar had a solid outing, giving up three runs and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. But it took a high-wire act from set-up man Scot Shields to put Rodriguez in a save situation.

The Angels led, 4-1, to begin the eighth, but Escobar yielded back-to-back doubles to Ivan Rodriguez and Carlos Guillen with one out, cutting the Angels' lead to 4-2. Shields came in and walked Rondell White before giving up an RBI double to Dmitri Young.

But with runners on second and third and one out, Shields threw a 94-mph fastball that tailed back over the outside corner to strike out Marcus Thames on a 3-2 pitch.

Ramon Martinez followed with a chopper up the middle that Shields deflected to second baseman Adam Kennedy, whose throw nearly pulled first baseman Darin Erstad off the bag. But Erstad made the play and set things up for Rodriguez.

Escobar, making his third start of the season, had received a total of only three runs in the first two games he pitched. Not a good sign after he got only 3.9 runs per game in his starts last season.

Finley, though, did his best to buck the trend. His two-run, two-out triple in the fourth inning off Tigers starter Wilfredo Ledezma snapped a 1-1 tie. And his RBI double in the sixth increased the Angels' lead to 4-1.

Finley had seven extra-base hits in all of April, but he already has five in four games played in May. He's hitting .429 (6 for 14) this month with two homers and seven RBI, and has lifted his average all the way to .188.

Joe Haakenson, [phone]

joe.haakenson(at)sgvn.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, 4 boxes

Photo:

Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero drops a ball hit by Ivan Rodriguez during the first inning Friday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Box:

(1) DETROIT at ANGELS

- Gabe Lacques

(2) GAME RECAP

(3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED

(4) ALMANAC