Angels 3, Tigers 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) The Anaheim Angels will have a hand in some late-season drama after all.

Far removed from the playoff races, the Angels are in position to play a big role in the Detroit Tigers' bid to avoid breaking baseball's single-season record for futility.

The Angels beat the Tigers for the ninth straight time Friday night in the opener of their seven-game season series. Bengie Molina drove in two runs, John Lackey took a shutout into the ninth inning and Troy Percival earned his 26th save in a 3-1 victory.

The Tigers (31-89) have only one more win than the 1962 Mets had after 120 games, when manager Casey Stengel's first-year team finished with the worst record in baseball history at 40-120.

``I know what our record is. It's terrible,'' rookie manager Alan Trammell said. ``If we had a few more wins, the only thing that would make it better for us is that we wouldn't be going for the all-time worst record which is the way people talk about our club.''

One of those people is Jim Marshall, the director of Pacific Rim scouting for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who watched Detroit's latest defeat with more than a casual interest.

Marshall is one of the original Mets a backup first baseman who roomed with 20-game loser Roger Craig in 1962, and one of several players who got trapped in a hotel elevator in St. Louis just hours before the team played its very first regular-season game. Marshall is hoping the Tigers can wipe them from the record books.

``Why not? I'm still hanging around in this game, and we like to see records like that broken,'' Marshall said. ``I don't think any of us thought we'd lose that much. It was pretty depressing. Sometimes, you're beat even before the game starts. There's not much ammunition.''

The same can be said of the Tigers. Before third baseman Eric Munson was placed on the disabled list on Thursday, Detroit's roster had 11 rookies on it including eight pitchers.

``That's the price you've got to pay,'' said Dmitri Young, the Tigers' only All-Star representative. ``Not every team is going to have that Cinderella all-rookie team that's going to tear up the American League. It would be nice, but this is a learning experience. People are going to go home this offseason and work hard and know what they have to do for next year, so they won't go through the same thing as this year.''

The Tigers were three outs away from their 13th shutout loss when Bobby Higginson homered off Lackey (8-11) for Detroit's seventh hit. Only two other runners advanced as far as second base against the right-hander, who won for the first time in six starts since July 13.

``A pitcher can only do so much,'' Lackey said. ``You can't go up there and score runs for yourself, and you've got to have good defense behind you. So all three parts of the game have to be working as one. I have to give a lot of the credit to the defense. They made some nice plays for me, and that makes it a lot easier.''

Nate Cornejo (5-12) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings, while losing for the 10th time in 12 decisions over his last 17 starts.

The Tigers are 0-71 when they trail after six innings.

``We're averaging a little over three runs a game, and that's not very much especially in the American League,'' Trammell said. ``We don't have the firepower to come back on a regular basis. And the record shows that we haven't done it very often at all. It's been a very difficult year, because we do have to do a lot of things right to win ballgames.''< ^Notes:@ Trammell said he was taking RHP Matthew Roney out of the rotation and putting him in the bullpen. The rookie has six straight losses. The top candidates to start Tuesday are Shane Loux and Steve Sparks. ... Anaheim SS David Eckstein was back in the lineup after missing three games because of tightness in his right hamstring.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)