Finley Muzzles Mariners’ Bats : Angels: He and relievers Percival and Smith keep hopes alive with three-hit shutout.

SEATTLE â€”  Angel closer Lee Smith could have sworn he was in Cleveland. First baseman J.T. Snow couldn’t hear second baseman Rex Hudler screaming right next to him. Shortstop Gary DiSarcina said the noise simply “blew me away.â€�

A sellout crowd of 50,212 pumped up the volume in the Kingdome Wednesday night, but that hardly rattled the Angels or pitcher Chuck Finley, who turned the Seattle Mariners down a few notches with a 2-0 victory that Snow called “the biggest win of the season.�

That might be an understatement. The Angels, who scored twice in the first inning, cut Seattle’s lead in the American League West to two games with four to play. The Angels close the regular season at home against Oakland and the Mariners finish at third-place Texas.

“We may have a faint heartbeat,� Angel right fielder Tim Salmon said. “But we’re not dead yet.�

The Angels also remained 1 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the wild-card race. New York closes with a three-game weekend series at Toronto, and the Angels can pick up a half game on the idle Yankees with a victory tonight.

“This was a two-game swing--if we had lost we’d have been four games behind Seattle,� Snow said. “And it keeps us in the wild-card race . . . it’s kind of amazing, you play 140 games, day in and day out for five months, and now it comes down to a four-game season.�

If it comes down to a one-game season--if the Angels can remain in the playoff hunt until Sunday--they’ll have this going for them: Finley would pitch the season finale on three days’ rest.

The left-hander who hadn’t won a game since Aug. 24 did the unfathomable Wednesday night, shutting down the Mariners on three hits over 6 1/3 innings to keep their magic number at three.

Set-up man Troy Percival bailed Finley out of trouble in the seventh, striking out Doug Strange and Vince Coleman with two on, and the rookie right-hander got through the heart of Seattle’s order with his 98-m.p.h. fastball in the eighth.

Smith fell behind pinch-hitter Joey Cora, 3-1, to open the ninth, but with the crowd on its feet and the noise at ear-piercing levels, he came back and struck out Cora. Tino Martinez flied to center and pinch-hitter Alex Diaz lined to right, and the red-hot Mariners’ seven-game winning streak was over.

Smith’s 35th save--his first since Sept. 12--completed the first shutout of the Mariners in the Kingdome this season.

“I haven’t had a chance to high-five the guys in a while,� Smith said. “Chuck pitched an awesome game. You score two runs against Seattle, you’re not thinking about winning, because these guys have been raking. Hopefully we can carry this back home and stay on a positive note.�

The Angels jumped on Seattle starter Tim Belcher in the top of the first when Tony Phillips walked, moved to second on Gary DiSarcina’s hit-and-run groundout and scored on Salmon’s two-out, bloop single to right field.

Chili Davis then followed with a smash that tipped off Mariner first baseman Tino Martinez’s glove and continued into the right-field corner, giving Salmon enough time to score from first for a 2-0 lead.

After the bottom of the first, it appeared as if the Angels would have as much chance of holding the lead as Mariner right fielder Jay Buhner has of having a bad-hair day.

Coleman lined Finley’s first pitch of the game to the warning track in left, where Garret Anderson made the catch. Luis Sojo ripped a liner to the right side, but Snow made a diving catch.

Ken Griffey Jr. then drove a ball to deep center, where Jim Edmonds made a leaping catch before crashing into the wall. No runs, no hits, three scares.

“That first ball went to the wall and I thought, ‘Damn, these guys are hot,’ � Finley said. “Then Griffey sent Jimmy to the wall and I thought I’d better figure something out quick or I may not be able to enjoy this crowd of 50,000 for long.�

Finley’s forkball--and fortitude--kept him in the game. Few Mariners were able to rip into his sinking pitch, and Finley twice recorded the third out of an inning with two runners on.

He got the crowd going in the sixth, when he opened with a 3-0 count on Coleman, but he came back with three strikes in a row to retire the leadoff batter.

“It was like background music in the dentist office,� Finley said of the thunderous Kingdome crowd. “You’re so focused on him taking your tooth out, you don’t even hear the music until he leaves the room. Either you want to be out there in that situation or you don’t, but I enjoyed the challenge of shutting them up.�