Falling Angels Get Flattened by Twins, 6-3

Post-Oakland depression hit the Angels hard Monday night. The high from Sunday’s exhilarating victory over the Athletics dissipated quickly, bottoming out all over the field during a 6-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Anaheim Stadium.

Apparently, two ninth-inning strikeouts of Jose Canseco and Dave Henderson can carry a team only so far.

You want offense?

The Angels had 10 hits in 7 2/3 innings against Minnesota starter Allan Anderson but could turn only two of them into runs.

You want pitching?

Angel starter Kirk McCaskill gave up hits to the first batters he faced, both Twins eventually scoring. By the sixth inning, he had given up nine hits and five runs, and by the seventh inning, he was finished.

You want defense?

Angel left fielder Chili Davis was at it again, committing one error that led directly to one Minnesota run and reacting creatively to a couple of other balls hit in his direction.

The loss left the Angels 2-5 since this home stand began, dropping them 1 1/2 games behind first-place Oakland in the American League West. The Athletics were idle Monday, but, at least in spirit, they didn’t appear to be the only ones.

The possibility of an Angel letdown was addressed in Manager Doug Rader’s postgame interview session, but Rader did his best to deny it.

“I think we kept the weekend in perspective and there wasn’t a letdown,” Rader claimed. “We were not flat.

“We were on defense a lot early and didn’t get our offense going early. We didn’t have a lot of activity on the bases and that might indicate a letdown, but there wasn’t one.”

The evidence, however, would suggest otherwise.

McCaskill (12-7) was in trouble from the outset, giving up a leadoff single to Al Newman, who advanced to third on Dan Gladden’s double.

Just the way you like to face Kirby Puckett for the first time of the night: With no outs and two runners in scoring position.

Puckett drove in one run by grounding out to second base. Clean-up hitter Randy Bush drove in the other with a single to left field, giving the Twins a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, the Angel defense began to break down around McCaskill. Bush opened the inning with a flare to left field, which should have dropped for a single but wound up skipping under Davis’ glove for an error, allowing Bush to take second.

Two outs later, Brian Harper singled home Bush and Minnesota led, 3-1.

McCaskill worked a scoreless inning in the fifth, only to work his way into difficulty in the sixth. With one out, Gary Gaetti singled and Jim Dwyer walked, with Harper’s sharp grounder to third base moving both runners into scoring position.

And score they did, with John Moses blooping a hit down the left-field line and into Davis territory again. Davis took awhile to collect the baseball and when he did, he made amends, of sort--throwing to second baseman Johnny Ray, who slapped a tag on Moses to end the inning.

But by then it was a 5-1 game, and McCaskill was looking at an early departure. He pitched to one more batter, Wally Backman, who opened the seventh inning with a double into the left-field corner. On came Angel relief pitcher Greg Minton, who yielded hits to the first two Twins he faced, with the first, a single by Newman, scoring Backman with Minnesota’s sixth run.

McCaskill was charged with six runs (five earned) on 10 hits in six-plus innings, his earned-run average rising from 2.81 to 3.00.

“He had good stuff, but couldn’t locate it well,” Rader said. “Sometimes he gets preoccupied with location.

“But that isn’t a big indictment, because a couple of the hits he gave up were so-so. But a hit is a hit. It was not a fortunate night for Kirk.”

Nor for Minton, whose August struggles continue. In his previous six outings, Minton had surrendered 10 earned runs and 12 hits in five innings--including three home runs in his last two innings. And Monday, Minton gave up five hits in 2 2/3 innings, leaving in the ninth with two outs and two runners on base.

Rader blamed the reliever’s tailspin on too much reliance on his specialty pitch, the sinking fastball.

“Minton still needs to start throwing some other pitches,” Rader said. “He needs to start throwing a breaking ball--and he will.”

Anderson (14-9) failed to complete the eighth inning when he began to complain of a twinge in his upper back. With two outs in the eighth, Minnesota Manager Tom Kelly brought on reliever Juan Berenguer, who yielded the Angels’ final run.

Berenguer walked the first man he faced, Tony Armas, and gave up a single to the next, Lance Parrish. Pinch-hitter Jack Howell followed with a bloop double down the left-field line that scored Armas and might have scored Parrish had a fan not reached over the field-box railing and touched the ball.

Fan interference was called, holding Parrish at third. Parrish was stranded when Kent Anderson grounded to first for the third out.

Jeff Reardon retired the Angels in order in the ninth, earning his 22nd save.

“There was nothing glaringly wrong tonight,” Rader kept insisting. “We just gave up a few hits and got beat. No need to dissect any further.”

For the Angels, there’s only a need for new inspiration before 7:30 tonight.

Angel Notes

Starting on the left side of the Angel infield Monday night were Kent Anderson at shortstop and Bobby Rose at third base. Manager Doug Rader gave Rose, 23, his first major league start, teaming him with rookie Anderson, the injury-replacement for Dick Schofield. Why? Because Rader wanted to give his regular third baseman, Jack Howell, a night away from the pennant race. Howell is mired in a three-for-34 slump and was coming off a particularly rough series, both in the field and at the plate, against Oakland. “I just wanted to get Jackie away from it, like I’ve done with others from time to time,” Rader said. “He can get away to work with Deron (Johnson, Angel hitting coach) with the batting cage without the pressure of playing today.” Rose was recalled from double-A Midland last week to fill the roster vacancy created when Schofield was placed on the 21-day disabled list.

Designated hitters Brian Downing and Claudell Washington traded places Monday, with Downing returning to the lineup in time to replace Washington, who was sidelined after receiving a cortisone injection in his left shoulder Sunday. Downing hadn’t played since Aug. 4 because of a flare-up of his chronic rib-cage condition. Washington was available only for pinch-run duty and figures to be a few days away from returning to the Angel outfield. . . . Reserve catcher Bill Schroeder was also relegated to the bench after receiving a cortisone shot in his right elbow Sunday. Schroeder underwent elbow surgery when he played for Milwaukee in 1986 and, according to Angel trainer Rick Smith, has had periodic problems with inflammation in the elbow ever since. With starter Lance Parrish playing with a tightly wrapped sore rib cage, rookie John Orton, 23, was the only able-bodied catcher on the Angel roster.

Bert Blyleven, the 38-year-old who might never grow up, still gets a kick out of watching things blow up. For Monday’s prank, Blyleven strolled quietly past a huddle of sportswriters in the Angel clubhouse and nonchalantly dropped a firecracker on the floor. Off it went within feet of the writers, rattling a few eardrums and causing Rader to open the door of his office and peer out at the smoke. “Schoey, stop fooling around,” he yelled at Schofield, the mild-mannered shortstop who usually makes about as much noise as a rosin bag. Blyleven and Rader both grinned knowingly and then went off to resume their daily rounds.