Angels Can’t Hit It Big-Even in Texas -6-0 : This Time, They Lose to . . . Schmidt?

Averaging less than one-third of a run per game over their last 31 innings, the Angels have been left with only fractional title hopes in the American League West.

Kansas City, in fact, clinched a tie for the division title Friday night.

The Royals defeated Oakland, 4-2, at Kansas City, while the Angels were shut out by converted relief pitcher Dave Schmidt and wiped out by the Texas Rangers, who were bidding for their 98th defeat.

They averted it, 6-0.

The box score can be found on the obituary page. The Angel offense is dead.

So is the bid to turn a Silver Anniversary season golden.

The Angels can now force a Monday playoff in Kansas City only by winning their final two regular-season games here while the Royals, who are scheduled to start aces Bret Saberhagen and Charlie Leibrandt, lose two to Oakland.

John Candelaria (6-3) will attempt to stave off the inevitable when he faces Texas rookie Matt Williams (2-0) this afternoon.

Channel 5 will show it in Southern California. NBC will show it in various parts of the nation.

With the Angels involved, it can be called a Game of the Weak.

The Angels have now scored six runs in the last five games and one run in the last 31 innings.

They have geared down nicely for the off-season by losing three straight and 8 of their last 11.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this club not scoring runs,” Manager Gene Mauch said in a clubhouse that was as quiet as the Angel offense has been on a 2-6 trip.

“These guys know how to score, that’s what is perplexing,” Mauch said. “And they’re trying, I know they’re trying.

“It’s confusing. It’s frustrating.”

Losing three of four to Kansas City’s quality starters was one thing.

Having the 28-year-old Schmidt, a former UCLA right-hander, deliver his first complete game and first shutout as a major leaguer--well, that was hitting a new low.

That was the only way the Angels hit Schmidt--low. They grounded into 19 infield outs. Schmidt, himself, had five assists and two putouts. He set down the last 13 Angels in order, all on infield grounders.

The Angels had seven hits but stranded three runners in the first inning (when Ruppert Jones struck out with the bases loaded), stranded two more in the second and stranded eight through five innings.

A two-out double by Reggie Jackson in the fifth was their last hurrah.

Of Schmidt’s 51 appearances this year, 48 had been in relief. He moved into the rotation when Dave Stewart was traded to Philadelphia recently. This was his fourth start. He had allowed 10 earned runs in the 14 innings of the other three, none of which went more than five innings.

A modest 20-22 in a five-year career, Schmidt has dominated the Angels. He is 4-1 with a 0.89 earned-run average against them. The Rangers reportedly offered Schmidt to the Angels in midseason but demanded future second baseman Mark McLemore in return, a source said. The proposition was rejected.

“I’ve always admired the guy,” Mauch said. “He’s shown me a lot of courage coming into games in relief.

“But this. . . . “

Mauch merely shook his head, failing to finish his response to the question of whether this latest shutout stemmed from ineffective hitting or effective pitching.

The Angels have actually collected 18 hits in the last two games, but 16 were singles.

Jackson, 3 for 34 coming into this game after being benched Thursday night, had two doubles and a single off Schmidt.

“Bleep those singles,” he said of the way the Angels have been hitting. “All they do is keep innings alive. You need distance baseball. You need to hit it over the fence and against the fence.

“I have some opinions as to why we’ve stopped hitting, but I’m going to keep them to myself. No one is tired. It’s not a question of running out of gas.”

Jackson’s own struggle in the middle of the order has been compounded by the fact that Jones is 2 for 36 and Brian Downing is 4 for 37.

Kirk McCaskill, who had won three straight and was 3-0 against Texas, would have needed to pitch his own shutout Friday night, but he lost it in the first inning when a pair of singles and Dick Schofield’s boot of a grounder to short enabled the Rangers to take a 1-0 lead.

Four more hits contributed to two more runs in the third, when Schofield failed to deliver a relay on a potential double play, and Gary Pettis, who had strained a quadriceps muscle earlier in the game, failed to run down Pete O’Brien’s towering double to right-center.

McCaskill (12-12) also yielded a two-run homer to former Servite High and Stanford third baseman Steve Buechele in the sixth.

The Rangers collected 10 hits in winning for the 10th time in their last 14 games.

Manager Bobby Valentine said he had talked to a number of his players about the importance of this series.

“There was no pregame, win-it-for-the-Gipper speech,” he said, “but I talked to the guys who I hope will be with me when the shoe is on the other foot. This is as close as we’ll get to the pennant race, and I want them to show me something.

“I mean, we’re not playing to keep the Angels from winning. We’re playing to show that we can win, too, that we can play at their level. My view is that there is not much difference in what you have to do to win.”

The Angels seem to have forgotten that runs are essential.