UNFINISHED JOB SHIELDS CAN'T HOLD LEAD IN ANGELS' LOSS OAKLAND 4, ANGELS 3.

Byline: Keven Chavez Staff Writer

OAKLAND - The practically untouchable Angel bullpen, a seemingly endless supply of live arms, has been the team's lifeblood in recent seasons.

When the Angels get a lead, they keep it - but not this time.

Angels reliever Scot Shields was touched up by the Oakland A's for three runs in the seventh inning, negating a stellar performance by starter Ervin Santana, and the Angels dropped the second game of a pivotal three-game series, 4-3, in front of a sellout crowd of 45,131 at McAfee Coliseum on Wednesday.

The Athletics' victory pulled them back into a first-place tie with the Angels in the American League West.

``We had nine outs to go and Shieldsy and Frankie (Rodriguez) there to split them up either way,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``It's just one tough inning. Shieldsy will be fine. He turns the page well.''

Santana outdueled an unusually wild Barry Zito through six innings. The Angels scraped across two runs off Zito, and Santana allowed just one, but both starters were gone as the game turned into a battle of the bullpens entering the seventh.

Shields got the call to protect the 2-1 lead, but Oakland left fielder Jay Payton greeted him with a line-drive triple off the right-center field wall. One out later, Nick Swisher singled up the middle past a drawn-in infield to score Payton and tie the game at 2.

Adam Melhuse, who homered off Santana in the third inning, followed with a single. Both runners moved up on Jason Kendall's deep fly out to left. Then Mark Ellis tapped a bouncer over Shields, forcing Orlando Cabrera to charge from shortstop. Cabrera couldn't handle an in- between hop and the RBI single allowed Swisher to score the go-ahead run.

Shields' inning only got worse as he uncorked a Nuke LaLoosh-esque wild pitch directly to the backstop allowing Melhuse to jog home from third and give the A's a 4-2 lead.

``Santana pitched a great game and for me not to hold it, it hurts,'' Shields said, ``not for me, but for Santana, who pitched his tail off.''

Shields (7-7) had not allowed three runs combined over the course of his past 15 outings, a string of 19 innings. Shields leads AL relievers with 68 1/3 innings pitched, but had only one outing over nine days before Wednesday.

The Angels and A's will complete their three-game series with a day game today.

``I hope it's 2-1 or 1-0 in the seventh or eighth inning (today) so I can get some revenge on them,'' Shields said.

Oakland relievers Justin Duchscherer (5-2) and Jay Witasick each pitched a shutout inning to turn the ball over to closer Huston Street. Street allowed a solo home run to Angels center fielder Steve Finley, but closed out the ninth inning for his 14th save.

Santana scattered four hits and two walks over his six innings, allowing his only run on a solo home run to Melhuse in the bottom of the third, which cut the Angels' lead to 2-1.

``I'm not disappointed,'' said Santana. ``That's the ballgame. Someone's got to win and lose and you can't control that.''

Zito, who had won his previous eight starts, had trouble finding the strike zone early and the Angels made him pay in the third inning when Bengie Molina drilled a two-run double for a 2-0 lead.

Adam Kennedy led off the inning with a single and Zito issued a two-out walk to Darin Erstad and hit Vladimir Guerrero with a pitch to load the bases. Molina followed by stroking an 0-2 curveball off the left-field wall to give the Angels the two-run advantage.

Zito was gone after six innings, having thrown five walks, one hit batsmen and 115 pitches. Zito's streak of eight wins in eight starts was broken, but the former AL Cy Young Award winner still has not lost a decision in his past 10 starts. His last loss came on June 17 against Philadelphia.

Finley's ninth-inning home run was his first since June 10 and just his second in the team's last 38 games.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera hops over Oakland's Bobby Crosby while completing a double play.

(2) Oakland starting pitcher Barry Zito allowed just two runs but walked five Angels batters on Wednesday night.

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Box:

(1) ANGELS AT OAKLAND

- Keven Chavez

(2) GAME RECAP

(3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED

(4) ALMANAC