Angels Lose--Mauch Won’t Talk About It

Gene Mauch has a way with words, which is good, because the Angel manager didn’t have many to offer after his team’s 8-5 loss to the New York Yankees Sunday afternoon.

“There’s nothing to say,” was Mauch’s greeting for a group of reporters who had trickled into his office. “It might make a tough situation get even worse. I don’t want to talk about it.”

And that was it. End of interview, end of press conference. Time to catch the team bus.

Mauch, obviously, was operating in accordance with that age-old principle in media relations: If you don’t have anything good to say . . .

And what good could Mauch possibly say about a team that:

--Lost its fifth straight to fall under .500 (21-22) for the first time since April 10, when the Angels were 1-2.

--Was confounded again by left-handed pitching. With Ron Guidry starting and Al Holland (1-0) finishing, the Yankees dropped the Angels’ record against left-handers to 2-11.

--Allowed another home run and four more RBIs to Yankee third baseman Mike Pagliarulo, who began this series batting .185. Lost weekend? Pagliarulo has found himself against the Angels, hitting two home runs Friday and singling home the winning run in the ninth inning Saturday.

--Rallied from a 5-0 deficit to tie at 5-5 in the top of the eighth, only to let it slip away as the bullpen surrendered three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Willie Randolph’s two-run double over Gary Pettis’ head was the clincher.

--Was done in by such novelties as a lead-off home run (Rickey Henderson’s); a 320-foot home run that slithered inside the right-field foul pole (Pagliarulo’s); a sun double that plopped right in front of a temporarily blinded Pettis; a Butch Wynegar single that sailed over first base fair and landed foul; an over-the-wall catch by Yankee left fielder Dan Pasqua; and a Wally Joyner ground ball that skipped off the glove of first baseman Don Mattingly and glanced right into the hands of second baseman Randolph, who threw to the pitcher covering for a run-saving out.

Right now, the Angels are living out that Michelob commercial in reverse: It doesn’t get any worse than this.

Those who did relent to discuss the latest fiasco in front of 50,906 at Yankee Stadium made repeated references to luck, breaks, momentum and magic. Even the word hex was mentioned.

Doug Corbett, the losing pitcher, talked about the decisive eighth inning in which he surrendered two singles down the first-base line to Wynegar and Ron Hassey and a two-run double to Randolph.

“A bouncer down the line hooks around the bag and is called fair,” he said. “The next one is a double-play ball, but we don’t get to it. It should have been a 1-2-3 inning.

“I guess they’ve got their magic going right now. It’s all a part of this crazy game called baseball.”

Joyner, however, wasn’t feeling all that crazy about the sport after Sunday. He took Saturday’s loss particularly hard after his diving attempt failed to stop Pagliarulo’s game-ending single. And he was at it again Sunday.

“That’s the way this series has been going,” Joyner said, dejectedly. “You try to play it one way and it goes another way.”

Two innings later, Joyner watched a ball hit by Wynegar skip in front of his glove at first base, fly over the bag and bounce in foul territory. It was ruled a hit, setting the stage for a three-run inning.

Joyner, whose first 1 1/2 months in the big leagues had been rather charmed, couldn’t believe the ball was fair, couldn’t believe his glove had failed him.

After that one, he needed some words from a veteran.

“Wally was real frustrated on the ball down the line,” Bobby Grich said. “He said, ‘That ball was foul.’ But I told him it was fair because it crossed the bag fair.”

Grich also told him to shake it off. This season may seem long at the moment, but it’s got an even longer way to go.

“The veterans told me to worry about it a half-hour, think about it and use it to prepare for tomorrow,” Joyner said. “Then they said forget about it. They say what’s over is over.

“But I hate losing. I think losing is as contagious as winning can be.”

And so goes the education of a rookie.

But Joyner did speak with wisdom about the snowball effect of losing. The evidence could be found at Yankee Stadium.

Things started badly for the Angels, with Henderson opening the first inning with a home run, and got worse.

In the third inning, Bob Boone’s third home run of season never made the books when New York’s Pasqua reached over the left-field fence and pulled the ball back for an out. In the sixth inning, Brian Downing had another potential home run hook foul. And in the eighth, Pettis lost a routine fly ball by Pasqua in the sun, letting it drop at his feet for a double.

“That one didn’t matter, it didn’t contribute to the scoring,” Downing said. “The damage was already done. But it adds to the frustration.”

Corbett tried to make sense of all the flukes that seem to grow in magnitude with each successive defeat.

“They say you make your own breaks,” Corbett said. “I don’t feel like there’s any hex on our ballclub. We’re just not playing real good baseball right now.”

Gene Mauch couldn’t have said it any better. And Sunday afternoon, he wouldn’t.

Angel Notes

Angel starter Kirk McCaskill found himself down 5-0 after three innings, having surrendered three walks, a solo home run by Rickey Henderson, a two-run home run by Mike Pagliarulo and a two-run double by Pagliarulo. But he allowed just one hit while striking out six over the next four innings before being replaced by Doug Corbett. “I didn’t want to come out,” McCaskill said. “I thought I was getting better the whole time.” Gene Mauch wasn’t talking, so writers asked McCaskill why he was taken out of the game after seven innings. “I would imagine the fact I made 141 pitches,” McCaskill said. “That’s a lot of pitches for a complete game. I was tired but I wanted to go on. If I was a manager, I probably would have done the same thing. When you’ve made a lot of pitches, you make a lot of room for mistakes.” . . . McCaskill on new Angel nemesis Pagliarulo: “All I can say about him is that he popped it up and it went out of the park. A 312-foot home run. The guy’s hot, that’s all I can say.”

Before Sunday’s game, Wally Joyner received a gift package from Warner Bros. Studios, makers of “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” the film that spawned the catch-phrase of this baseball season--Wally World. The box contained a supply of “Walley World” shirts, which Joyner distributed among his teammates. . . . Reggie Jackson was in the lineup against a left-hander for the second time this series as Mauch continues to grope for a successful combination. Jackson went 1 for 3 with a single against Ron Guidry. “Personally, I like it when Reggie’s in the lineup against a left-hander,” Bobby Grich said. “It gives us a little different feel. He’s always a threat to go deep. When something’s not working, you gotta try something new. Gene had to try something.” . . . Grich tried to find a silver lining in the Angels’ latest loss against left-handed pitching. “I think we’re getting closer,” he said. “At least now, we’re tying some games. We’ve gone from scoring no runs against a left-hander to scoring five. If we score five runs a game, we’ll win our share.” . . . The series concludes today, with Mike Witt (3-4) opposing Joe Niekro (5-2). Niekro is a right-hander.