PAUL, SELE LIFT ANGELS THEY HELP TEAM AVOID SWEEP ANGELS 8, MINNESOTA 3.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

MINNEAPOLIS - They'd been gripping the bats hard enough to turn them back into dust, and a stretch of closely-contested games had the Angels more tightly wound than the baseballs they were flailing at in clutch situations.

But Thursday, Anaheim finally let the air out a little bit, finding relief from the oddest of sources.

Josh Paul, the 25th man on the roster out of spring training, had three hits, and Aaron Sele, once the last man in the bullpen, remained undefeated as the Angels avoided a damaging series sweep with an 8-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome.

Entering Thursday, the Angels had played just .500 ball since the All- Star break and seemingly had to scratch out each of their 10 wins.

Their last five had come by two runs or less, and the schedule fed them a steady diet of contenders like Boston, Texas and these resilient Twins.

But relief might be on the way. The next 13 games come against Kansas City, Baltimore, Detroit and Tampa Bay, all sub-.500 teams with a combined .442 winning percentage. If consistent play won't enable them to make a run at the postseason, maybe the schedule will.

As it is, the Angels (58-50) can always comb the depths of their roster for production.

Paul made the team mainly because catcher Bengie Molina's fitness was a concern, and now Molina is on the disabled list with a broken finger. Paul entered Thursday with just 32 at-bats this year, but he banged out two singles and a double in his first three at-bats.

The No. 3 catcher, who once went 18 days without an at-bat, now sports a .306 batting average.

``He gets to play once a month,'' Sele said of Paul. ``Every time he plays, he does a great job. He just did a wonderful job out there.''

The affable reserve and the once-maligned starter have clearly formed quite a bond. So it wasn't surprising that the warm feelings were mutual.

``Apparently, we work well together,'' Paul said. ``He's cerebral, I guess. You're thinking along with somebody. It's fun to get on the same page with someone like that. You adjust together.''

Sele (7-0) quietly stews about the perception he's won 129 career games based on strong run support.

``I'm just lucky,'' he said. ``Eleven years of luck.''

That's not totally inaccurate. Sele has had his share of poor outings this year, and posted a 6.61 ERA in six starts entering Saturday, but somehow avoided filling up the loss column.

Thursday, he was more good than lucky.

Sele held the Twins to just five hits in seven innings. After giving up a pair of runs in the fifth inning, he finished strong, retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced.

The outing was encouraging for the Angels, who must keep Sele in the rotation for at least two more starts while Jarrod Washburn recovers from a rib injury.

After a 21-hit barrage over the course of two nights produced just three runs and two losses, the Angels cashed in against Terry Mulholland (3-4). The 41-year-old lefty started instead of Angel-killer Brad Radke, who wanted an extra day of rest.

The Angels capitalized, building a 7-0 lead after four innings. Tim Salmon and Paul singled to start a three-run rally in the third.

In the fourth, Paul's one-out double drove home Robb Quinlan to spark a four-run rally. Rookie shortstop Jason Bartlett's error extended the inning long enough for Jose Guillen to smack a two-run single.

``All you can do is put yourself in position to get clutch hits,'' said first baseman Darin Erstad. ``Today, we got 'em.''

And now the club could exhale a little bit. They eased within three games of first place Texas and 2 1/2 of wild-card leader Oakland, with the AL-worst Royals awaiting today.

Thursday, the hits became runs, thanks in part to their relaxed reserve catcher.

``The harder you try, the worse you do,'' Paul said. ``I had the feeling today like we did in April and May. Everything was clicking.''

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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Angels infielder Chone Figgins avoids Minnesota's Henry Blanco after completing a double play in Anaheim's 8-3 win.

Jim Mone/Associated Press

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