ZITO GETS STRAIGHT A'S, TOPS ANGELS LEFT-HANDER SHUTS DOWN ANGELS LINEUP IN EASY VICTORY OAKLAND 7, ANGELS 1.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - A national television audience tuned in for a showdown between the top two teams in the American League West on Sunday night, but by the latter innings, many of those viewers might have switched over to another station.

That's because it wasn't much of a showdown, as the Oakland Athletics cruised to a 7-1 victory behind the left arm of starter Barry Zito in front of a sellout 43,411 at Angel Stadium.

Kelvim Escobar started for the Angels and pitched well, but just a few mistakes were a few too many against Zito. Bobby Crosby hit a two-run homer off Escobar that gave the A's a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning, and the Angels' bullpen gave up three runs in the seventh to break the game open.

Zito was through after six innings, but they were an effective six innings. The former Pierce College and USC standout gave up one run and four hits, and pitched even better when the Angels threatened to score. The Angels went 1 for 10 when facing Zito with runners in scoring position.

The one hit belonged to Garret Anderson (Kennedy High of Granada Hills), who entered the game hitting .333 (13 for 39) against Zito. Anderson's two-out single in the third inning scored David Eckstein for the Angels' only run of the game.

Facing Vladimir Guerrero for the first time in his career, Zito retired him all three times. And the last two times they matched up, Guerrero came to the plate with a runner on third and one out and failed to get the ball out of the infield.

``He knows what he wants to do with his fastball,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Zito. ``A lot of times he's out of the zone with it by design. When it looks like he's a little bit erratic, that's his game plan. He moves the fastball out of the zone to set up his other pitches. He has a great changeup and if not the best curveball, one of the best in the league.''

Escobar, as is usually the case, needed some time to find his rhythm. In the first inning, Eric Byrnes (UCLA) singled and stole second. With two outs, Jermaine Dye hit a grounder to the hole at short, but Eckstein made the stop with a backhand. Dye had an infield single but Byrnes had to hold at third.

It turns out it didn't matter, because Scott Hatteberg followed with an RBI single for a 1-0 A's lead.

The Angels tied it on Anderson's RBI single in the third, but after Troy Glaus (UCLA) doubled to give the Angels runners on second and third, Zito retired Jose Guillen on a flyout to end the threat.

The A's took the lead for good in the fifth when Damian Miller led off with a double, went to third on an infield single by Marco Scutaro and scored on Mark Kotsay's sacrifice fly.

The Angels had a chance to tie it again using the same formula that gave them a run in the third inning. Eckstein led off with a single and stole second. Darin Erstad moved Eckstein to third with a flyout to left-center. Guerrero couldn't get the run home from third, popping out to second for the second out of the inning.

Anderson followed but this time he could not come up with the clutch hit, striking out on a 3-2 breaking ball out of the strike zone.

The duel between Escobar and Zito ended in the sixth inning, when Crosby hit a two-run homer, knocking Escobar out of the game and giving the A's a more comfortable 4-1 lead.

Escobar (0-1) gave up four runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

``I felt good today,'' Escobar said. ``All my pitches were working very good. Things like that happen. You can't control what's around you. I know we're not going to score one run all the time.''

The A's took two of three from the Angels in the series, winning with Tim Hudson and Zito on the mound, and losing behind Mark Mulder.

``You know in this division you face quality pitching all the time,'' Eckstein said. ``And that's the top three right there. Everybody knows good pitching can handle an offense.''

Joe Haakenson, [phone]

joe.haakenson(at)sgvn.com

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Photo:

Oakland center fielder Mark Kotsay, right, catches a Darin Erstad flyball as Eric Byrnes gets out of the way.

Francis Specker/Associated Press