Angels’ Rally No Dream

ANAHEIM â€”  They tormented the Angels in 1995, storming back from a 13-game deficit in early August to win the American League West, and they tortured them again Tuesday night, erasing a five-run deficit to take a two-run lead in the seventh inning.

The Seattle Mariners, better known around these parts as Anaheim’s Worst Nightmare, staged another remarkable rally, but this time the Angels responded with an improbable rally of their own.

Tim Salmon, exposing the Mariners’ one weakness--their bullpen--smashed a three-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning off journeyman reliever Josias Manzanillo to give the Angels an 11-9 victory before 17,492 in Anaheim Stadium.

“Seattle is so strong offensively and they have such good starting pitching, but the bullpen is one area we can hopefully make up some ground in,� Salmon said. “Other than [closer Norm] Charlton, they have some younger guys out there. Young guys tend to make mistakes, so you want to take advantage of them.�

Seattle reliever Greg McCarthy walked Jim Edmonds to start the winning rally, and Dave Hollins drew another walk off Manzanillo. Jim Leyritz followed with a chopper to third baseman Russ Davis, who bobbled the ball and threw too late to second, allowing the Angels to load the bases.

Salmon, who was batting .167 (4 for 24) on the homestand before Tuesday but homered in the fourth inning, followed with a bases-clearing drive to left-center, giving the Angels their sixth come-from-behind victory in the last nine games.

Closer Troy Percival then retired the heart of the Seattle order--Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez--in the top of the ninth for his first save of the season.

“No question it’s big to beat these guys,� Salmon said. “They’re our No. 1 rival, we always play these back-and-forth games . . . it came down to one [playoff] game in ’95. They’re definitely the team to beat in the division.�

The Mariners appeared to have the Angels beat in the seventh when Jay Buhner, who robbed Salmon of a homer with a leaping catch above the right-field wall in the fifth, drilled a three-run homer off reliever Rich DeLucia for a 9-7 lead.

The Angels rallied in the bottom of the seventh when Leyritz walked, Garret Anderson singled and Eddie Murray singled to right to score Leyritz, making it 9-8.

A seven-run outburst in the fourth gave the Angels a 7-2 lead. But Angel starter Jason Dickson issued a two-out walk to No. 9 hitter Rob Ducey in the fifth, Joey Cora and Rodriguez each singled to load the bases for Griffey, whose 470-foot homer gave Seattle a 2-0 lead in the first.

Griffey walked to force in a run, trimming the lead to 7-3. Dickson then jumped ahead of Martinez, 0-2, and thought he had strike three with a fastball, but umpire Dale Ford ruled it just off the outside corner.

Dickson stormed off the back of the mound in frustration, and the temporary loss of composure may have cost him when he left his next pitch up and over the plate.

Martinez hit the fastball into the right-center field gap for a bases-clearing double, as the Mariners pulled to within 7-6. Dickson recovered, however, striking out Sorrento to end the inning.

Griffey gave the Mariners a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run home run to right-center, a blast that landed in one of the tunnels leading to the outfield bleachers.

It was Griffey’s major league-leading 20th homer and put him on a pace to hit 73 homers this season.

But the Angels came back with seven runs in a fourth-inning barrage that featured Salmon’s sixth home run of the season, Edmonds’ two-run single and Hollins’ three-run homer, all off Seattle starter Jeff Fassero.

Anderson, Murray and Kreuter also singled in the inning, with Anderson extending his hitting streak to 15 and Kreuter’s hit knocking in a run.

“These guys played their butts off, this team doesn’t give up,� Percival said. “It reminds me of the 1995 team, but with more heart. It’s nice knowing if you’re down by four runs you’ve still got to stay ready in the bullpen because you have a chance to come back.�