Poor outing troubles Shields

BOSTON -- In victory, Scot Shields appeared inconsolable.

The Angels had just rallied to win, a dramatic ninth-inning comeback in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader. Shields slumped into a chair and buried his head in his locker. For a few minutes, no one went near him.

Shields, handed a three-run lead and asked to get three outs in the eighth inning, gave up three runs and got one out. He threw 19 pitches, 12 of them balls, before Manager Mike Scioscia had to rush closer Francisco Rodriguez into the game.

After a few minutes, pitching coach Mike Butcher had seen enough. Butcher pulled up a chair at the adjacent locker.

“Just talking,” Butcher said.

Not mechanics, not remedies, just a pick-me-up.

“I walked guys, and Frankie had to come in early,” Shields said. “I was upset.”

The outing might not be worth recalling had it not highlighted two troubling trends for the Angels’ setup man. In the first half, his earned-run average was 1.70. In the second half, his ERA is 8.56.

And, with the possibility that the Angels could play here in October, his career ERA at Fenway Park rose to 17.65.

“I like pitching here,” he said. “The results just haven’t been there.”

Shields recently had reviewed his delivery on video and corrected a flaw or two, and he said he “pitched as good as I’ve pitched all year” in throwing a scoreless inning Thursday in Toronto.

“He’s not a guy that will lack confidence,” Butcher said. “That’s one outing. Just let it go.”

Vladimir Guerrero has a younger brother, Julio, playing in the Israel Baseball League, which concludes its inaugural season this weekend. Julio Guerrero, 27, who did not rise above Class A during four minor league seasons in the Boston organization, played the outfield and pitched for the Netanya Tigers.

“It’s quite an experience with the food,” Vladimir Guerrero said through an interpreter. “He hasn’t seen rice in a long time.”

Dominican cooking, apparently, is not an Israeli specialty. This summer, Vladimir said with a laugh, Julio ate plenty of potatoes.

Garret Anderson, the Angels’ cleanup hitter, has gone 63 at-bats without a home run and 49 at-bats without an extra-base hit. . . . The Angels, in need of a fresh bullpen arm, optioned Greg Jones to triple-A Salt Lake after Saturday’s game and recalled Marcus Gwyn, who threw 2 1/3 innings for Salt Lake on Friday. . . . Bartolo Colon (elbow) completed a bullpen session Saturday and was scheduled to pitch a simulated game Tuesday in Anaheim. If all goes well, he could start a minor league rehabilitation assignment thereafter and rejoin the starting rotation in the second week of September. . . . Reggie Willits, who misread two caroms in his first outfield start at Fenway Park on Friday, had an extended outfield workout Saturday, trying to learn how to read a ball coming off the Green Monster. The Angels arrived in Boston around 2 a.m. Friday morning and did not work out on the field before a doubleheader, so Willits did not have the chance to practice then. . . . About 4,000 fans already were inside Fenway Park 90 minutes before game time when Guerrero hit a series of batting practice shots out of the park. The fans rewarded him with a spirited ovation.

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com