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Angels hope to finish strong

Garret Anderson, center, was part of the 1995 Angels team that folded late. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
From wire reports
Garret Anderson, center, was part of the 1995 Angels team that folded late. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

The Angels are riding high with the best record in the majors, the best record in franchise history at this stage of the season and the biggest division lead of any team in baseball.

That lead was sitting at 12 games over the Rangers heading into the weekend. Mariners fans might recall the Angels blowing a similar margin in 1995, but Garret Anderson, the Angels’ only player still around from that debacle, isn’t having any panicky flashbacks.

“No, that’s so long ago, man,” he told the Orange County Register. “I was a rookie that year.

“When I look at ’95, we did some stuff offensively. But my view on that now that years have passed is that we weren’t built to win that year. We didn’t have the kind of pitching staff we have now. We had (Mark) Langston and (Chuck) Finley, and they couldn’t pitch every day. We had to piece it together the rest of the time.

“If we had this pitching staff on that team, we would have run away with it and won the division by 15 or 20 games.”

Ramirez to White Sox

The Royals traded pitcher Horacio Ramirez to the Chicago White Sox for minor league outfielder Paulo Orlando.

The left-hander was 1-1 with a 2.59 earned run average in 15 relief appearances with the Royals, who signed him as a minor league free agent on May 21 after he was released in spring training by Seattle.

Woods is available

Chicago Cubs closer Kerry Wood was available to pitch Saturday despite battling a sore back, days after coming off the disabled list because of a blister on his right index finger.

Wood’s back made him unavailable to pitch Friday, three days after he was activated from a three-week DL stint.

“I could have pitched him if we really needed him to. I thought of pitching him in the ninth to get him some work,” Piniella said.

Soriano to DL

Rafael Soriano’s ruined season appears to be over. The Braves reliever, acquired last year in the infamous Horacio Ramirez trade with Seattle, went back on the disabled list with elbow problems that have bothered him all season.

Soriano has missed all but four weeks of the season and appeared in just 14 games.