Boskie Tough to Beat : Baseball: He’s 3-0 with Angels after beating Orioles, 6-5, with a little help from Salmon’s slam.

Shawn Boskie has gone head to head with some of the best pitchers the American League has to offer--Toronto’s David Cone, Kansas City’s Kevin Appier, New York’s Jack McDowell and Baltimore’s Mike Mussina--and the Angel right-hander is getting the hang of this David vs. Goliath thing.

“You’ve got to be real sharp or you’re done,� Boskie said.

Boskie was neither for much of Monday night’s game against the Orioles. He gave up four runs in the second inning and was hit hard through the seventh.

But Boskie somehow kept his team in the game long enough for the Angels to record a come-from-behind 6-5 victory before an announced crowd of 15,413 at Anaheim Stadium.

Tim Salmon erased 4-0 deficit with a grand slam in the third inning, Spike Owen tripled and scored on Damion Easley’s double to snap a 4-4 tie in the sixth, and J.T. Snow hit a solo homer in the seventh, accounting for what proved to be the winning run.

And now Boskie, 28, who was traded by two teams and released by another in 1994, can boast that he has gone up against a fearsome foursome of A.L. starters, including Mussina Monday night, and hasn’t lost to one of them.

He beat Cone on May 1, registered no-decisions against Appier on May 13 and McDowell last Wednesday, and beat Mussina Monday to improve to 3-0, although his earned-run average jumped from 2.88 to 3.27.

“I’ve always been told I have great stuff, and people have been waiting for this to happen,� said Boskie, who gave up eight hits, struck out two and walked none. “I didn’t feel ill-equipped, I’m just making better pitches consistently. Another part of it is the guys [in this league] don’t know me.

“I think as long as I stay humble, I’ll do reasonably well. If I get confident, things could fall apart. Hopefully they won’t.�

Things appeared to be unraveling in the second inning Monday. Boskie threw 39 of his 112 pitches during the Orioles’ four-run outburst. But he shut out the Orioles over the next five innings thanks to some good defense--and good fortune.

Boskie ran into trouble in the fifth when Cal Ripken Jr. and Harold Baines singled with two out, but Snow bailed him out with an outstanding over-the-head grab of Chris Hoiles’ popup in foul territory, the third time this season Snow has ranged far down the right-field line to make such a play.

Shortstop Gary DiSarcina made a diving stop of Jeff Manto’s sixth-inning grounder up the middle and threw Manto out, then ended the inning with a grab of Brett Barberie’s liner.

Oriole left fielder Brady Anderson opened the seventh with a line drive at DiSarcina and Tony Phillips made a running catch of Rafael Palmeiro’s liner to left to end the inning.

“You’re going to see hard-hit outs like that, that’s part of the game,� Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “But he was making them swing the bat. There’s no defense for ball four, but there is defense for hard-hit balls. They can be hit at someone.�

Boskie gave way to Troy Percival, who gave up a bases-empty homer to Baines in the eighth, and Lee Smith, who gave his teammates a scare in the ninth before recording his 12th save.

Barberie reached on an infield single with one out and Anderson walked, but Smith got pinch-hitter Kevin Bass to hit into a game-ending, 4-6-3 double play.

“A lot of guys who give up four early and are going against Mussina would pack in, figure the day was over,� Lachemann said of Boskie. “But he kept fighting, putting zeros up, and gave us a chance to get back in it.�

Salmon capitalized on that chance with a grand slam for his seventh career hit against Mussina in 25 at-bats. Four of those hits are homers.