MARINERS BATTER ANGELS STANDOUT RELIEVER HASEGAWA UNABLE TO HOLD ON TO LEAD SEATTLE 7, ANGELS 5.

Byline: Fred J. Robledo Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - There have been few sure things in major-league baseball this season.

Not even the Angels bullpen.

Shigetoshi Hasegawa, impressive so far, was unable to protect a two-run lead against Seattle on Sunday, as the Mariners scored a 7-5 come-from- behind victory over the Angels at Edison Field.

Angels starter Pat Rapp worked well, giving up only five hits before turning the game over to Hasegawa in the eighth and the Angels ahead 3-1.

But Hasegawa, who posted a 2.05 ERA after the All-Star break and won 10 games for the Angels last season, couldn't get out of the eighth inning.

The Mariners scored five times off Hasegawa in a six-run eighth inning.

It was Seattle's (9-3) second consecutive win over the Angels (6-6) and gives it an early three-game lead in the American League West standings.

Rapp, who hasn't pitched a complete game since 1998 with Kansas City, felt strong, but left after seven innings figuring his bullpen would get it done.

``I thought I pitched well enough to get this team a win today,'' said Rapp. ``Looking at the two starts I had before, this was a pretty positive outing for me. The load of walks I've been putting on the team had put everybody to sleep, so I just changed things up a bit. I tried not to throw as hard and follow through. I felt like I was down in the zone, it was just unfortunate for the team to take a loss after a game like this.''

Angels manager Mike Scioscia was obviously disappointed, but after a weekend of Ismael Valdes and Rapp looking strong on the hill, it eased some of the pain.

``These last couple outings are very encouraging,'' Scioscia said. ``This one slipped away but in the big picture its encouraging. Pat was able to rebound not only from a couple of bad starts, but when his mechanics began to go haywire during the game, he made some adjustments.''

The blown save comes from a bullpen that entered Sunday's game leading the major leagues in ERA (1.36) and strikeouts (36). In fact, the Angels staff had held its opponents to three-earned-runs-or-less in seven of its previous 11 games before getting rocked by the Mariners.

``The way things have been going, I thought it was a great opportunity to turn the game over to (Hasegawa),'' said Scioscia, when asked if he should have let Rapp pitch the eighth. ``He didn't get it done today, but he's certainly a cornerstone of our bullpen and I'm confident turning the game over to him. Hasi will bounce back, he's too good a pitcher not to. He just had a tough one today.''

Garret Anderson had a career-best 35 home runs and 117 RBI last season, but he hasn't been swinging the bat well, particularly during this home stand, where he was 3 for 21 heading into Sunday's game. He snapped out of it with a towering home run, his second of the season, in the second inning.

Rapp was sailing along nicely for the Angels, striking out three in his first three innings of work. But Martinez then hit a curveball into the seats, his third home run of the season, tying the game 1-1.

Except for Anderson's homer, Seattle pitcher John Halama had given up only three hits through the first six innings.

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Photo:

Seattle's John Olerud connects on one of his three hits against the Angels on Sunday at Edison Field.

John Hayes/Associated Press

Box: ANGELS vs. OAKLAND