Rangers Put an End to Angels’ ‘Streak’

After Sunday’s 11-inning win over the Milwaukee Brewers, pitcher Kirk McCaskill said the Angels needed a lot more than one victory to turn things around during this season of discontent.

As it turned out, McCaskill was prophetic. And the Angels were pathetic.

Obviously not buoyed by the prospect of winning two in a row, the Angels plunged to new depths during Monday night’s 6-4 loss to the Texas Rangers.

Asked to find a bright spot on an evening when the Angels did everything but gift-wrap the victory they handed the Rangers, Manager Cookie Rojas thought for a moment and said, “Well, (Sherman) Corbett did a good job.”

Corbett pitched one inning, threw 19 pitches--13 of which were balls--and walked two batters.

So much for highlights.

Now, the lowlights:

--In the second inning, after Texas first baseman James Steels singled, the Angels pitched out and Steels was stealing. He stopped halfway to second and headed back to first. Catcher Darrell Miller needed only to lob the ball to second to start a rundown, but he gunned it into center field instead and Steels returned safely to first.

Good guess, bad throw.

After starter Willie Fraser walked Mike Stanley, Steve Buechele singled to center. Tony Armas managed to overrun the ball, which was barely rolling when he got to it. Steels scored, Stanley went to third and Buechele ended up on second. Both scored on singles by Curtis Wilkerson and Oddibe McDowell.

That put the Rangers ahead, 4-0. (Ruben Sierra had hit his seventh home run of the season in the first.)

--The Rangers did a great Angel impersonation in the fourth, but the genuine article outdid them in the bottom half of the inning.

The Angels scored twice on one hit in the inning. Dick Schofield came up with men on first and second and two out. By the time he reached first on second baseman Wilkerson’s fielding error, two runners had crossed the plate, thanks to a wild pitch and a balk by starter Jose Guzman.

Not to be outdone, the Angels gave the Rangers a run without the benefit of any hits. Wilkerson drew a two-out walk and scored when left fielder Jim Eppard, camped under a high fly ball, allowed the ball to glance off his glove, allowing Wilkerson to score. This was the kind of fly ball that relief pitchers shag during batting practice.

Rojas, who played Eppard in hopes of adding some pop to the lineup, got some clank in the outfield as part of the bargain. To his defense, Eppard hadn’t played in the outfield since last season, and he was more offensive than defensive.

--Miller, making his third straight start in place of Bob Boone, not only threw away the pitchout. He caught just one of four other Rangers attempting to steal. Left fielder Pete Incaviglia stole second standing up in the third. Miller has allowed seven stolen bases in two games.

Is Rojas beginning to feel that things can’t get much worse?

“Feel? Is there any feeling?” he lamented. “I think I’ve seen it all now. We gave them four runs. It was a sloppy game. It was a . . . game. Guzman pitched so-so, but the way I see it, we should have won this game, 4-2.”

Actually, if either team played halfway decent defense, the Rangers would have won, 2-0. All four Angel runs were tainted.

The Angels got their first run in the third with the help of two Texas errors--a dropped throw by first baseman Steels and a throwing error by Wilkerson--and a run-scoring single by Eppard.

“I let in one and I drove in one,” Eppard said. “You can’t be doing that.”

The Angels’ fourth run in the fifth was earned but could have been prevented with some major league fielding. Eppard singled off Wilkerson’s glove and scored when Chili Davis doubled off McDowell’s glove in center. McDowell, running with his back to the plate, got his glove on Davis’ drive but dropped it as he tried to stop his momentum and brace himself against the wall.

Fraser lasted 5 innings and yielded 7 hits and 5 earned runs while walking 5 and striking out 5. He was far from scintillating and got the loss to drop to 4-5 on the year. But Rojas thought he deserved a better fate.

“When you give a team 4, 5, 6 outs in an inning, they’re going to get to you sooner or later,” Rojas said.

The Angel manager sat staring at a plate of ribs, as if he might some answers in his postgame meal. He’s certainly searched everywhere else.

“I just don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m trying a lot of different combinations to try to get something going. We got the win yesterday, and I thought maybe it would be the start of something and then we go out and play like this.”

This season, of course, the Angels have suffered more breakdowns than a fleet of used cars.

Angel Notes

It’s Not Over Until It’s Over Dept.: If Oakland continues to win games at its current pace, the Angels will have to win 92 of their remaining 106 games to win the American League West. If the Athletics drop off and play one game under .500 for the rest of the season, the Angels would have to win 72 just to tie the A’s. OK, it’s over before it’s over. . . . With one out and one on in the eighth and Texas leading, 6-4, Manager Cookie Rojas sent switch-hitting Chico Walker up to hit for right-handed Tony Armas against Texas right-hander Jose Guzman. Walker came to the plate hitting .133 left-handed with no home runs. Armas was hitting .218 with two homers. But right-handers are hitting .243 against Guzman, and left-handers are hitting .187. “Armas had struck out twice, and I wanted some speed to stay out of the double play,” Rojas said. Walker hit into a double play.

Injury update: Second baseman Mark McLemore’s sore arm isn’t getting much better. “I talked to Roger (Williams, the Angels’ physical therapist) this morning,” trainer Ned Bergert said. “He said Mark threw about 40 feet for maybe three minutes and had to stop. He was experiencing the same nerve irritation.” McLemore is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list Wednesday, but obviously isn’t close to being able to play. . . . Donnie Moore pitched one inning for Class-A Palm Springs Sunday and gave up two hits and one run. He threw 15 pitches--9 balls and 6 strikes--in a 3-1 loss at Visalia and was still bothered by soreness in his right knee. Moore, who was eligible to come off the 21-day disabled May 29, will pitch again for Palm Springs on Wednesday. “I’d like to have him back,” Rojas said, “but I’ve got to worry about the guys I’ve got here.” . . . Johnny Ray, who has been nursing a tender right shoulder since late April, has been on a weight training program and is showing some improvement, according to Bergert. “The rotator cuff is weak,” Bergert said, “but he’s building up some strength now.”