Trip East May Prove Timely : Baseball: Angels hope getting away will help them get back on track.

NEW YORK —  Maybe this is exactly what the Angels need, pitcher Chuck Finley reasons, a pressure-filled swing through the unfriendly confines of Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Camden Yards.

“We’ve been playing so well, it’s not like we’ve been in a playoff stretch-like atmosphere all year,” said Finley, who will face New York’s David Cone tonight in the first game of a crucial nine-game trip.

“We’ve been ahead by so much everybody has just relaxed. It’s not like we’re a game up or a game out and we’re trying to pick up a half-game here and there. I don’t think anyone even once has looked over his shoulder.”

That could change--and quickly--if the Angels continue playing the way they did on their 3-8 home stand, because while they’re touring the East Coast, the second-place Texas Rangers, who are eight games back, are facing Minnesota, Kansas City and Chicago. Two of those three are among baseball’s worst teams.

Monday, the Angels spent their first off-day in four weeks flying to New York, resting their weary bodies and reflecting on Manager Marcel Lachemann’s stern post-game speech Sunday, in which he admonished players for their lack of concentration, poor fundamental play and a troubling issue that recently crept into the clubhouse--players concerned too much with personal goals.

Players wouldn’t discuss the meeting in detail, but several said Lachemann “hit the nail on the head.”

“There’s no question we’re going through a period when everyone is not swinging the bats well, making good pitches and defensive plays,” right fielder Tim Salmon said. “Hopefully it’s just a spell we’re going through and we’ll get out of it. How? No. 1, we can’t panic. We have to acknowledge it and keep working as hard as we can to get out of it.”

How did the Angels, one of baseball’s most dominant teams after the All-Star break, plunge into a prolonged slump? Simply put, everything that was going right in July went wrong last week, causing breakdowns in all phases of the game.

* Offense: The Angels were bound to tail off from their torrid July pace, but not this far, or this fast. The team that leads the major leagues in runs hit .228 with 23 runs (3.3 a game), 50 hits (7.1), 22 walks and 47 strikeouts during the home stand.

Good pitching was a factor--the Angels faced Boston’s Roger Clemens twice, New York’s Cone and Jack McDowell, and Baltimore’s Mike Mussina and Scott Erickson--but the clutch hits practically dried up, and poor base-running might have cost the Angels two games.

Since peaking at a season-high .299 July 30, leadoff batter Tony Phillips has slipped to .275 and, more disturbing, has 14 walks and 36 strikeouts. He had 71 walks and 66 strikeouts through July 30.

MVP candidate Jim Edmonds has gotten away from what he does best--driving balls, especially breaking pitches, to the opposite field. Instead of fighting off tough pitches and slapping them to left, Edmonds has been trying to pull them--and is striking out. “I need to stop trying to hit the ball so hard,” Edmonds said.

Salmon and designated hitter Chili Davis have been hitting, but first baseman J.T. Snow went hitless in six of the last nine games, and rookie of the year candidate Garret Anderson hasn’t driven in a run in a week.

To compound matters, there has been little production from the bottom of the order--shortstop Damion Easley, catchers Jorge Fabregas and Greg Myers, and second basemen Jose Lind and Rex Hudler. Starters in the Nos. 7, 8 and 9 spots combined to hit .208 (22 for 106) with seven runs and six RBIs on the home stand.

Who would have thought it? The Angels lose Davis, their cleanup hitter, for a month from mid-June to mid-July and score at a record pace. They lose their No. 9 hitter, shortstop Gary DiSarcina, and the offense goes into the tank.

“When you’re on a roll everything seems to happen just right,” Lachemann said. “You’re seeing the ball well, not fouling off your pitches . . . but when you’re scuffling, your patience has a tendency to go.”

* Defense: Though Easley has been a capable fill-in at shortstop and Lind and Hudler have been solid at second, Phillips has struggled at third. But what really irks Lachemann are mental errors.

Edmonds and Anderson failed to communicate on a catchable fly ball to left-center Sunday and it dropped for a triple. Reliever Mike James didn’t cover first on a ball hit to the right side. Catchers failed to throw runners out twice on pitchouts during the home stand. Players have not properly backed up bases.

“It’s troubling to me and it’s troubling to the players, but I think it’s just a lack of concentration,” Lachemann said. “I’m not worried about the hitting. That will take care of itself. We just need to play the game right.”

* Pitching: The recent trend has been to give up first-inning runs, putting the Angels in an immediate hole. Through July 30 the Angels had given up six first-inning home runs; they’ve given up that many this month.

Finley has been the most consistent starter, followed by Mark Langston, who recovered from recent elbow tendinitis but now has shoulder problems. Jim Abbott has been more effective on the road (3-0) than at home (0-2), and Brian Anderson and Mike Harkey have been hit hard in recent outings.

The closing tandem of Troy Percival and Lee Smith is still going strong, but middle relievers James, Bob Patterson and John Habyan have struggled in recent weeks.

In all, the Angels gave up 42 runs (6.0 per game), 76 hits (10.9), 14 home runs, walked 30 and struck out 37 on the home stand.

“Our pitching is too good, the middle of our lineup too potent, and the defense should be too good to fall into a bad [losing] streak,” General Manager Bill Bavasi said. “These guys have recovered from a lot of tough losses this year--this is just another of those tough times.”

Some reasons for optimism: The East Coast trip has traditionally been tough on the Angels, but this team seems to bond better on the road--in fact, they’ve been better on the road (36-19) than at home (31-28) this season.

And the return of pitchers Shawn Boskie and Mike Bielecki should bolster the rotation and bullpen this week.

But Bavasi said there’s little more he can do to strengthen the team. He tried to trade for a front-line shortstop, with efforts concentrated on Jose Vizcaino of the New York Mets, but the teams couldn’t agree on a deal. “This is the group we’re going with,” he said.

That’s fine with Lachemann.

“This is a good team, you’ve seen them play well,” he said. “And if you can play well once, you can play well again.”