Top of Their Game

Their house is a definite fixer-upper, with plenty of visible scaffolding, mounds of dirt beyond the outfield wall, bleacher areas cordoned off for construction and too many empty seats for the Walt Disney Co.’s tastes.

But you can’t beat the view.

The Angels found themselves atop the American League West standings Friday night after a 9-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox moved them half a game ahead of the Seattle Mariners.

An Anaheim Stadium crowd of 20,953--far short of expectations for a warm Friday evening with a pennant race in the air, saw Allen Watson give up only one run and eight hits in eight innings to win his first game since July 10 and improve to 9-6.

The victory, coupled with the Mariners’ loss to Milwaukee, moved the Angels into first place for the first time since June 10, when the Angels enjoyed a one-night stand on top of the division. They were back in second place June 11, where they remained until Friday night.

“With what we’ve done the last four months these guys deserve to be in first place,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said. “They’ve battled and played their hearts out. I just hope we can stay there for a while.

“There’s two months left to fight it out, and we will. We just have to stay aggressive, on offense and on the mound. This is where it gets to be fun. This is what you play for, to be in a pennant race when every game is important.”

Orange County fans, however, don’t seem caught up in pennant fever. While the Dodgers drew 53,503 for a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night, the Angels couldn’t draw half that Friday night.

“We’re in first place and there should be a big crowd out there [tonight],” said Watson, who struck out seven and walked three. “We have a good team, and the fans should know that.”

The Angels, who overcame a club-record nine-run deficit in Thursday night’s 14-12 loss to the White Sox, would face no such obstacle Friday night.

They scored three runs in the first inning, one in the third and two in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead, and when Chicago scored once in the sixth, the Angels countered with three more in the bottom of the inning to bury the White Sox.

Their first six runs came off White Sox rookie starter Scott Eyre, who was making his debut and needed directions from a cameraman to the Chicago clubhouse before the game.

Tim Salmon led the Angel offense with a two-run single in the first inning and a two-run single in the sixth, improving his average with runners in scoring position to .413 (45 for 109).

He suffered a bit of an indignity in the first, when his drive one-hopped the wall in right-center field and he tripped just before reaching first. Salmon passed the bag without touching it, so he had to go back and settle for a single.

But he made up for the miscue in the sixth when he ripped a bases-loaded single into left-center that, coupled with outfielder Mike Cameron’s error, resulted in three runs and a 9-1 lead.

“All I know is the last six weeks I’ve seen nothing but Tim Salmon driving in big runs,” Collins said.

“When he gets up to the plate he gets zoned in and drives them in.”

Darin Erstad added an RBI single in the first and a two-run homer in the fourth, his 11th of the season and first since July 6. Erstad, leadoff hitter Tony Phillips, who walked twice and singled, and Dave Hollins, who had two singles, each scored three runs.

That was more than enough support for Watson, who worked out of a no-out, runners-on-second-and-third jam in the fourth inning and gave up his only run in the sixth on doubles by Frank Thomas and Mike Cameron.

Watson got some help from third baseman Dave Hollins--and third-base umpire Rocky Roe--in the fourth. Albert Belle ripped a grounder near the bag at third, and Hollins made a diving tag of Robin Ventura for the first out.

Replays showed that Ventura reached around Hollins’ glove to avoid the tag, but Hollins was credited with the putout. Watson then struck out Lyle Mouton, walked Cameron and retired Chris Snopek on an infield popup for the final out.

“That,” Collins said of Hollins’ effort, “was the biggest play of the game.”