Angels Waste Three-Hitter by McCaskill in 2-1 Defeat

The Angels’ wastage continued to expand Saturday night during another loss to the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park, this by an exasperating final margin of 2-1.

Wasted: Kirk McCaskill’s three-hit complete game.

Wasted: A chance to beat up on White Sox pitcher Shawn Hillegas, who was making his first start since May 26 because his earned-run average as a starter, before Saturday, was 14.90.

Wasted: An opportunity to move within 2 1/2 games of American League West leader Oakland, a 5-2 loser to Boston earlier in the afternoon.

Waste being a terrible thing to mind, McCaskill didn’t mind speaking his to reporters in the aftermath.

“First of all, I never thought two runs would beat us,” McCaskill said. “Secondly, I don’t know, it’s easy to start throwing some stones, but we realistically could be 1 1/2 out.

“You know, what we lack is a little mental discipline. We have these streaks. If we don’t make it this year, that’s what we’re going to look back on and kick our butts about.

“This was a great opportunity for us. If we can’t get up for a game, knowing we can gain a game in the standings, we don’t deserve anything.”

Someone asked McCaskill what he meant by “mental discipline.”

“We strike out too much,” he said. “I’m not trying to blame the hitters for anything because there have been times when we haven’t pitched well, and I’m including myself, but from a pitching standpoint, I look at our offense and see how great it could be.”

And then he looks at this three-game series against the last-place team in the AL West and sees the Angel offense scoring a grand total of four runs, striking out 31 times and getting three walks.

“All I know is when we lose, we strike out a lot and don’t hit home runs,” McCaskill said. “ . . . I just look at what we have and what (the offense) could be. If we had a little more discipline at the plate, we’d have an awesome offense.”

But awesome isn’t what Angel Manager Doug Rader is asking for. Adequate would suffice.

For a study in something less than that, examine these last three games at Comiskey Park:

--Game 1, Friday evening: Chicago’s starting pitcher is Melido Perez. His pregame ERA is 5.19. His won-lost record is 9-13.

The Angels manage two hits against him and strike out 12 times. They lose, 3-1.

--Game 2, Friday evening: Chicago’s starting pitcher is Richard Dotson. His pregame ERA is 4.86. His won-lost record is 4-9.

Against Dotson and two relief pitchers, Wayne Edwards and Terry Jones, the Angels manage eight hits, two runs and nine strikeouts. They win, 2-1.

--Game 3, Saturday evening: Chicago starts Hillegas, whose pregame totals are 4.61 and 6-10.

Against Hillegas and relievers Steve Rosenberg, Jose Segura and Bobby Thigpen, the Angels squeeze out one run and six hits while striking out 10 more times.

Mental discipline, anyone?

Even the Angel hitters had to concede McCaskill’s point.

“He’s right,” right fielder Claudell Washington said. “We’ve got some guys struggling, swinging at a lot of bad balls. A lot of untimely hitting.”

And from first baseman Wally Joyner:

“I think he might be correct. We knew going in that Oakland lost and if we win our game, we’ve got a chance to gain some ground. Instead of going out there relaxed and making things happen, we were trying to force things to happen, and that’s not how you’re supposed to play.

“I don’t know if it’s discipline, but the problem we have is that we’re trying to do too much with the ball. Instead of hitting singles, everybody’s trying to hit five-run home runs. You can’t do that.”

McCaskill (15-9) lost this game when he walked the first two batters he faced, saw each advance 90 feet on an infield out and then failed to knock down a bouncer up the middle by Steve Lyons.

When Lyons’ grounder hopped over second base for a single, both Lance Johnson and Scott Fletcher scored. By that much, McCaskill was headed for defeat.

And left to blame himself for petty transgressions.

“I should have had it,” McCaskill said of Lyons’ ball. “It just went over my glove.”

And the walks to Johnson and Fletcher?

“I didn’t prepare myself, obviously,” he said. “There’s no excuse for going out there and not throwing strikes.”

But from that point on, McCaskill gave up only two more hits--a fourth-inning double by Carlton Fisk and an eighth-inning bad-hop double by Ivan Calderon.

The Angels scored their only run against Hillegas (7-10) in the fourth inning on a bad-hop single by Washington, a double by Devon White and an infield single by Chili Davis.

Pretty impressive stuff.

There were only two more Angel scoring threats. In the second inning, Johnny Ray was on first base with two out when Jack Howell’s sharp one-hopper struck first base umpire Jim Joyce in the wrist and rolled slightly past first base. Howell wound up with a single on the play, Ray stopped at third and Hillegas pitched out of the jam by retiring John Orton on a fly ball to right.

In the eighth inning, Jim Eppard was on first base with one out when Washington hit a slicing line-drive single to left-center. Eppard held up at second and was replaced by pinch-runner Mark McLemore, who advanced to third base on an infield out. But McLemore, too, was stranded when Davis flied to left against Thigpen.

Four Angel runs in three games.

Against three White Sox starting pitchers with a cumulative ERA hovering around 5.00.

“I know, I know, I know, I know, “ Rader said, shaking his head. “Don’t rub it in.”

The manager wanted to say some more, but bit his tongue.

It was the best display of mental discipline evidenced in an Angel uniform all night.

Angel Notes

“When you lose a game when there are very few scoring opportunities,” Angel Manager Doug Rader was saying, “you hash it over in your mind: What could have been done differently?” OK, let’s go with that. For starters, could Jack Howell’s second-inning line drive been enough to score Johnny Ray from first base had it not struck umpire Jim Joyce? “I don’t know,” Rader said. “With Johnny Ray on first, it’s questionable.”

And in the eighth inning, with Jim Eppard moving from first to second on Claudell Washington’s line-drive single to left-center field? Should Rader have pinch-run Mark McLemore earlier for Eppard, giving the Angels a better chance for a first-and-third opportunity after Washington’s hit? “Yeah, I thought about it,” Rader said. “But I was thinking of saving McLemore for the ninth inning, in case Wally (Joyner) or (Brian) Downing get on and we need a real base stealer. But I don’t know if Mac could’ve gotten to third on Claudell’s hit. He’d have had to freeze on the ball, because it looked like it was going to be caught. That’s what Epp did.”

Devon White’s third-inning double was less than a foot shy of clearing the fences, a few inches that ultimately proved costly for the Angels. The Angels scored their only run of the game in that inning, but White was left at third base when Joyner grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Because of Friday’s doubleheader and a lack of days off next week, Rader has decided to start Chuck Finley on three days’ rest Tuesday night in Minnesota. Not wanting to play Dial-A-Spot-Starter again, Rader opted for Finley, who started Friday’s second game, but went only five innings. Finley made of total of 67 pitches.