Scioscia laughed, and wondered about the Yankees: "When they had DiMaggio playing and Mantle on the way up, that might be something."

The writers' point, though, was that the Angels have 12 Gold Gloves earned in center field on their roster -- Torii Hunter has nine and Vernon Wells has three -- and those two are third and fourth on the depth chart in center, behind Peter Bourjos and Trout.

Mariners (59-82, fourth A.L. West, 21 games back)
Ichiro Suzuki, RF (.272, 3 HR, 36 RBIs)
Brendan Ryan, SS (.249, 3, 38)
Dustin Ackley, 2B (.304, 6, 34)
Mike Carp, LF (.282, 8, 34)
Justin Smoak, 1B (.227, 12, 45)
Miguel Olivo, C (.222, 16, 55)
Wily Mo Pena, DH (.235, 2, 6)
Trayvon Robinson, LF (.272, 1, 9)
Alex Liddi, 3B (.000, 0, 0; major-league debut)
Charlie Furbush, LHP (.2-4, 6.39 ERA)

Angels (77-65, second A.L. West, 3.5 games back)
Maicer Izturis, 3B (.277, 5, 31)
Peter Bourjos, CF (.274, 10, 35)
Howie Kendrick, 2B (.292, 15, 51)
Torii Hunter, DH (.266, 19, 75)
Mark Trumbo, 1B (.256, 26, 80)
Vernon Wells, LF (.219, 20, 54)
Mike Trout, RF (.238, 5, 14)
Erick Aybar, SS (.266, 7, 53)
Bobby Wilson, C (.198, 1, 7)
Jerome Williams, RHP (2-0, 4.58 ERA)

White Sox (63-64, third AL Central, 6.5 games back)
Juan Pierre, LF (.284, 2 HR, 40 RBIs)
Alejandro De Aza, RF (.316, 1, 9)
Paul Konerko, DH (.317, 28, 86)
Alex Rios, CF (.214, 8, 31)
Alexi Ramirez , SS (.259, 13, 53)
Adam Dunn, 1B (.167, 11, 40)
Tyler Flowers, C (.310, 1, 3)
Brent Morel, 3B (.258, 2, 22)
Gordon Beckham, 2B (.238, 9, 34)
Zach Stewart, RHP (1-2, 3.74 ERA)

Angels (70-59, second AL West, 3.5 games back)
Peter Bourjos, CF (.285, 8 HR, 32 RBIs)
Alberto Callapso, 3B (.284, 5, 40)
Bobby Abreu, DH (.251, 6, 48)
Torii Hunter, RF (.259, 17, 65)
Mark Trumbo, 1B (.260, 23, 69)
Howie Kendrick, 2B (.294, 11, 42)
Vernon Wells, LF (.205, 17, 46)
Erick Aybar, SS (.259, 7, 44)
Jeff Mathis, C (.176, 2, 17)
Jered Weaver, RHP (14-6, 2.10 ERA)

Well, sort of.

"Dan (Haren) will pitch on Friday," Scioscia said.

And who comes after that?

Manager Mike Scioscia offered an optimistic update on Chatwood's outing Sunday with Salt Lake, his first since being sent back to triple-A on Aug. 18. In the Bees' 6-5 win at Colorado Springs, Chatwood was the winning pitcher, giving up four earned runs in six innings. He allowed nine hits, struck out one and walked two.

"Velocity was good," Scioscia said. "Fastball command was improved. Threw some good breaking balls and tightened up the breaking ball with a little cutter look that he's been trying to develop. I think for the first time out, he felt comfortable with it.

"Ask me in November," Mike Scioscia said, after the Angels took the Rangers' best punch and then came back with a haymaker of their own, answering Texas' five-run fifth with their own six-run sixth for a 9-8 victory over the team they're chasing for the American League West lead.

"Hopefully we'll be talking about it. But we have a long way to go."

But, as was noted in Thursday's column, this game and this comeback could well represent a four-game swing in the standings should Jered Weaver (12-4, 1.90) take care of business Thursday afternoon against the Rangers' C.J. Wilson (10-3, 3.11).

A loss Wednesday and the Angels would have had a six-game deficit, with the possibility of a seven-game difference by the close of business Thursday. Instead, if they win that 12:30 matinee they'll only trail by three.

"It says a lot about our team," said Howie Kendrick, who had four RBI and delivered the game-winning hit, a two-run single in the sixth. "There's a lot of character on this team, and we've all played together for a while. Everybody knows what everyone else is capable of doing. Tonight, everyone contributed and did their part."

After falling behind 8-3 -- when the Rangers sent 10 men to the plate and knocked Dan Haren out, with Josh Hamilton contributing an RBI single, Michael Young a two run double and Yorvit Torrealba a two-RBI double that Vernon Wells lost in the lights -- the Angels came back to the dugout and thought small.

"Things obviously were getting a little bit away from us," Scioscia said. "When guys got back to the dugout Mickey (Hatcher) was saying, 'Just get good at-bats, one at-bat after another. Get a couple of guys on, keep the inning going, pass the baton. We were able to do that."

Said Torii Hunter:

"Yeah, you do think small, because with nobody on you're going to hit a five-run (homer)? Can't do that. You gotta shorten your swing, work the count, try to get runners on base, try to make things happen."

Two plays early in the inning were critical. Kendrick doubled and Mark Trumbo followed with an RBI hit, and Rangers center fielder Endy Chavez made a misguided throw home on Trumbo's ball, allowing him to reach second. That meant that Bobby Wilson's subsequent grounder, which otherwise might have been a double play ball, moved Trumbo to third.

The other critical play? Mike Trout hit one into the hole, and shortstop Elvis Andrus made a fine stop and an accurate throw -- and Trout still beat it, with Trumbo scoring on the play.

"We don't have a time on it, but he was flying," Scioscia said.

He was flyin' home, too, on Erick Aybar's double to make it 8-6. Hunter followed with a bullet to second base, recording the second out of the inning but moving Aybar to third. Abreu drove him in with a single and stole second. Wells walked. Alberto Callaspo prolonged the inning with an infield single, and Kendrick ripped a single to center to give the Angels the lead.

Then, on a night where not many pitchers had clean innings, Scott Downs pitched two perfect innings to get the ball to closer Jordan Walden, who came at the Rangers in the ninth with heat, heat and more heat. Walden got Hamilton on a fly ball for the first out, struck out Adrian Beltre on a 100 mph fastball for the second out, gave up a double down the line to Young and wild pitched him to third, but fanned Nelson Cruz to nail it down and record his 22nd save.

In a year where the Angels' bullpen and particularly the middle guys have been uncharacteristically wobbly, Downs and Walden have been two bright spots. Downs hasn't surrendered a run at home in 19 appearances and now has a 1.36 ERA. Walden, with his save, tied the club record for a saves by a rookie, originally set by Ken Tatum in 1969.

"What Scotty Downs and Jordan Walden have done has been a season saver up to this point," Scioscia said before the game. "We wouldn't be talking about hopefully getting into a pennant race if it wasn't for what those guys did."

Angels manager Mike Scioscia was quick to make a parallel between Tuesday's move sending down catcher Hank Conger and today's transaction, which sent reliever Michael Kohn to Salt Lake City. To take his place, the team purchased the contract of veteran left-hander Horacio Ramirez.

"Michael Kohn, almost in the same boat like Hank Conger, has terrific upside," Scioscia said, "but really needs to clean a couple things up. He made some strides when he went back down to the minor leagues earlier in the year. There are some things that are very clear that he needs to tighten up, and hopefully we'll see a better product when he gets another shot."

The lineups for the second game in the three-game series between the first- and second-place teams in the West:

Rangers (56-41, first AL West)
Ian Kinsler, 2B (.254, 15 HRs, 37 RBIs)
Elvis Andrus, SS (.283, 3, 34)
Josh Hamilton, LF (.301, 13, 53)
Adrian Beltre, 3B (.270, 30, 74)
Michael Young, DH (.321, 8, 63)
David Murphy, RF (.247, 4, 18)
Yorvit Torrealba, C (.256, 3, 17)
Mitch Moreland, 1B (.262, 12, 27)
Endy Chavez, CF (.347, 4, 15)
Derek Holland, LHP (8-4, 4.32 ERA)

Angels (51-46, second AL West, 5.0 games back)
Erick Aybar, SS (.285, 7 HRs, 40 RBIs)
Torii Hunter, RF (.237, 11, 45)
Bobby Abreu, DH (.271, 3, 37)
Vernon Wells, LF (.218, 14, 35)
Alberto Callaspo, 3B (.289, 3, 33)
Howie Kendrick, 2B (.291, 8, 30)
Mark Trumbo, 1B (.259, 18, 43)
Bobby Wilson, C (.235, 0, 3)
Mike Trout, CF (.125, 0, 1)
Dan Haren, RHP (10-6, 2.75 ERA)

Also, the Angels made a roster move today, sending down reliever Michael Kohn and purchasing the contract of reliever Horacio Ramirez. More on that shortly.

They've lost four of five coming out of the break and lost four games in the standings in less than a week. They are now five games behind Texas in the American League West following Tuesday night's 7-0 loss, a game that was manageable through 7 2/3 innings but got out of hand in the last inning and a third, when young reliever Michael Kohn gave up three home runs.

Here's a hint: In five games they've scored 11 runs, and in the last 26 innings -- going back to the second game of Saturday's doubleheader -- they've scored two.

"We really need to get niternal and get into our game, no matter who we're playing," manager Mike Scioscia said after the Angels were handcuffed by Alexi Ogando (10-3) for eight innings and Darren Oliver for the ninth.

"We had a little more continuity going before the break. I don't think we were killing the ball, but we were driving the ball better, hitting some home runs and doing some situational things. Since we came out of the break obviously it's tough to get it going."

Before the break the Angels won 11 of 13 and moved within a game of the division lead.

Tyler Chatwood (5-6) had some control issues in his five innings, during which he allowed three runs and seven hits and walked four.

"I've got to cut down on walks," said the former Redlands East Valley star. "That's been an issue all season. I've got to stop trying to nitpick and just go after them.

This was a night of triumph for ex-in Angel Mike Napoli. Traded away to Toronto in the Vernon Wells deal, and then flipped to Texas days later, Napoli entered the night hitting .253 but with 13 home runs. He had two hits and two walks Tuesday night and scored twice.

"It was weird to walk in on the other side today," Napoli said. "But I'm a Texas Ranger now and I love it here.

"This is my new home and my new team, and I'm the enemy now."

Nolan Ryan just received a nice round of applause in absentia. Ryan, the Rangers' CEO, was scheduled to be here for the induction and to throw out the ceremonial first pitch as an Angels alumnus, but was hospitalized Monday because of chest pains and did not accompany the Rangers to Anaheim.

The lineups:

Texas (55-41)

Ian Kinsler 2b (.252, 15 HR, 36 RBI)
Elvis Andrus ss (.285, 3, 34)
Josh Hamilton lf (.294, 12, 52)
Adrian Beltre 3b (.268, 19, 72)
Michael Young dh (.321, 8, 62)
Nelson Cruz rf (.245, 21, 56)
Mitch Moreland 1b (.264, 12, 27)
Mike Napoli c (.253, 13, 34)
Endy Chavez cf (.342, 3, 13)
--
Alexi Ogando rhp (9-3, 2.92)

Angels (51-45)

Maicer Izturis 2b (.272, 4, 22)
Torii Hunter rf (.239, 11, 45)
Bobby Abreu dh (.275, 3, 37)
Vernon Wells cf (.221, 14, 35)
Alberto Callaspo 3b (.288, 3, 33)
Howie Kendrick lf (.294, 8, 30)
Erick Aybar ss (.285, 7, 40)
Mark Trumbo 1b (.255, 18, 43)
Jeff Mathis c (.194, 2, 12)
--
Tyler Chatwood rhp (5-5, 3.62)

Incidentally, to make room for the activation of Chatwood the Angels sent catcher Hank Conger to Salt Lake. Conger was hitting .214 in 50 games.