SO SAD TO SEE NL GO ANGELS GO 14-4 IN INTERLEAGUE COLON REBOUNDS.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA 

Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- Forgive any of the Angels if they happened to shed a tear over the departure of interleague play.

With the Angels' 4-3 victory in 10 innings over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, they went 14-4 against the National League this season, the best interleague mark in team history. The Angels won seven of their past eight vs. the NL with their three-game sweep of the Pirates.

Bartolo Colon rebounded with six strong innings and Erick Aybar delivered the winning hit in the 10th inning after Francisco Rodriguez blew his second save of the season in the ninth inning.

"I think there was no difference in the way we approached the game (against the NL)," Aybar said through broadcaster Jose Mota, who served as interpreter. "We're not looking at who we're playing right now, just the fact that the team is playing well."

The Angels plowed through the initial round of interleague play with a three-game sweep over the Dodgers, but it was the next phase that really did some damage.

When the Angels went out for interleague play June 8, they stood 15 games above .500 and 51/2 games out in front in the American League West.

After winning five consecutive series against the NL, the Angels are now eight games in front and 22 games above .500.

"Whether we're in interleague or playing in the division you have to play baseball, you have to bring your game," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We held our own with the National League clubs, especially on the road. I thought we did well for taking a bat out of the lineup."

Colon was the latest to enjoy some interleague success. His recent struggles were forgotten for a day as he gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings. He also got the best of one of the major league's hottest pitchers.

With the Pirates flying under nobody's radar, it might have been easy to overlook Pittsburg's Tom Gorzelanny as one of the better starters in baseball over the past year. Among pitchers with at least 145 innings since July 23 of last year, Gorzelanny entered with a 2.85 ERA, trailing only the Padres' Jake Peavy and the Twins' Johan Santana.

But the Angels managed to scratch out just enough runs against the left- hander and Colon's best outing in more than a month made it stand up. Sunday's outing was the first time Colon had allowed tworuns or less since doing it three times in his first fourstarts this season. He had been dealing with a triceps injury that caused him to miss a start early this month.

Colon entered Sunday having allowed at least two home runs in each of his past fivestarts. He won only once over that stretch, an outing that happened to be against an NL team (Cincinnati on June14).

"It wasn't the triceps at all that had been making me elevate the ball, it was my mechanics," Colon said through Mota. "I was not fluid and it caused me to get the ball elevated. The key today was that I was able to stay compact and really drive down. But I had no excuses as to why I have been leaving the ball up in the zone."

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The Angels' Erick Aybar smiles after driving in the winning run in the 10th inning Sunday.

Mark Aver/Associated Press