ROOKIE MUZZLES ANGELS DETROIT TOUCHES UP COOPER IN THE SEVENTH DETROIT 6, ANGELS 3.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - There were no dramatic late-inning comebacks this time, no heart-stopping rallies. The Angels simply fell to the Detroit Tigers 6-3 without much of a fight Tuesday night in front of 19,104 at Edison Field.

The offense was shut down most of the game by Tigers starter Adam Bernero, a 23-year-old right-hander who began the season in Double-A. The bullpen was unable to come to the rescue of the starting pitcher, like it has so often this season. And the starting pitcher - Brian Cooper - watched helplessly as six good innings went down the drain in a hard-luck seventh inning.

That's when the Tigers scored four runs to break a 2-2 tie - three of the runs charged to Cooper - an inning manufactured by bloops and bleeders.

Cooper (4-6), who hasn't won since July 17, gave up five runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Bernero didn't look like someone making his major-league debut against an Angels offense that ranks second in the league in hits. However, he did get help along the way, particularly from first base umpire Jerry Meals.

In the third, the Angels had runners on second and third with one out when Scott Spiezio hit a line drive to right field.

Though replays showed Juan Gonzalez short-hopped the ball, Meals called Spiezio out. Meanwhile, Adam Kennedy didn't tag at third before coming home. The Tigers appealed at third and Kennedy was called out, completing the double play and ending the inning.

``From a straight-on angle, I could see it short-hop into his glove,'' Kennedy said. ``(Meals) must not have had a good angle.''

Kennedy said he never saw Meals give the out sign, figuring the umpire saw the play correctly.

``After I crossed the plate the catcher tagged me,'' he said. ``So I figured something was going on.''

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Kennedy made the right play.

``We saw the ball bounce and Adam did too,'' Scioscia said. ``He's busting home to beat the play.

``It's safe to say it's a momentum-changer, but it wasn't the defining moment. We had opportunities after that.''

Kennedy also wouldn't blame the loss on the bad call.

``It's not the reason we lost the game,'' he said. ``When did that happen, the third inning? And we can't score more than that for six more innings? We never really got anything going after that. We're a better offense than to let something that happened in the third inning determine the game.''

Cooper gave up solo homers to Juan Encarnacion in the third inning and Gonzalez in the sixth, and the Tigers took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth. That's when the Angels finally got through against Bernero.

Tim Salmon, who struck out looking in his first two at-bats, grounded a single up the middle to score two runs and tie the score. It also knocked Bernero (5 1/3 innings, 2 runs, 5 hits) out of the game. Salmon, who also doubled, now has hit in 10 consecutive games.

The Tigers regained the lead in the seventh and knocked Cooper out of the game.

Ex-Angel Damion Easley drove in one run with a bloop single, and after Mike Holtz replaced Cooper, Bobby Higginson drove in a run with a broken-bat single for a 4-2 Tigers lead.

Mike Fyhrie replaced Holtz and got what seemed to be a big out when he struck out Gonzalez for the second out of the inning. But Dean Palmer followed and hit the first pitch he saw into the right-center field gap for a two-run double and a 6-2 Tigers lead.

``I think my only problem is late in the game, a close game, I try to do too much,'' Cooper said. ``I'm trying to throw the ball too hard, or trying to make the ball break too much.''

Spiezio homered to lead off the Angels' eighth inning, cutting the Tigers' lead to 6-3.

But Todd Jones, who suffered only his second blown save of the season Monday night, got the final three outs for his American League-leading 30th save.

ANGELS vs. DETROIT

Time: 1:05 p.m., at Edison Field

TV/Radio: FSN; KLAC-AM (570), XPRS-AM (1090 Spanish)

Matchup: Ken Hill (5-6, 6.56 ERA) will start for Anaheim against Detroit's Brian Moehler (6-7, 4.76). Angels second baseman Adam Kennedy has hit in eight consecutive games. The Angels haven't lost a series at home since May 8-10, when they lost two of three to Oakland.

- Joe Haakenson

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Box: ANGELS vs. DETROIT (See text)