Angels Approach the Cellar : Baseball: Loss to Mariners leaves team in a virtual tie for last place with the Royals.

There is talk of patience around the Angel clubhouse, but there are also signs of desperation.

There are pitchers who say they are pressing, trying to pitch too fine. They understand that they might not get enough runs to win if they do not. There are hitting worries and there are fielding worries. And there is General Manager Mike Port, who says he sees his team pressing--”Just like people falling down a cliff, grabbing at every bush and shrub.”

The Angels have been unable to stop themselves until they hit bottom, which they did Thursday night with a 5-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners that dropped them into a virtual tie with the Kansas City Royals for last place in the American League West, 11 games behind the Oakland Athletics.

The Angels, who remain ahead on percentage points only because they have played two more games than the Royals, have not made up any ground on Oakland since April 22, and have won only six of their past 22 games, and only one of their past eight.

They are chasing a team that is not cooperating. The A’s have won nine of their past 10. But the A’s were not the problem Thursday. They didn’t even play.

The Angels’ loss in front of 13,958 at the Kingdome, combined with Kansas City’s victory over the Texas Rangers, left the two teams expected to contend against Oakland tied for last instead.

The Angels are groping for ways to change that.

“What turns this thing around is that one internal spark,” Manager Doug Rader said. “I know it’s there. I know it’s going to happen. I know we’re very close.

The Angels showed possibility early in Thursday’s game. Luis Polonia led off by beating out a grounder to short for a hit. He took second on a wild pitch and stole third.

Wally Joyner’s one-out single to left brought him home, and sent Chili Davis, who had walked, to second. Dante Bichette’s single to right-center drove in Davis and gave the Angels a 2-0 lead.

But the lead disappeared in the fourth inning, when starter Kirk McCaskill, who had allowed only one hit over the first three innings, gave up four runs on five hits.

Greg Briley and Alvin Davis singled with no outs. That brought up Jeffrey Leonard, who homered twice in the Angels’ 10-8 loss to the Mariners in the Kingdome last Thursday and irritated some Angels with his languorous trot.

McCaskill went to 2-and-0 against Leonard, who then lined a single to left, scoring Briley and moving Davis to second. Edgar Martinez’s single tied the score.

With two out and runners on second and third, catcher Dave Valle came to the plate. Valle is batting .253 overall, but is hitting .400 with men in scoring position.

Valle knocked a two-out single up the middle, driving in Ken Griffey Jr. and Darnell Coles for a 4-2 lead. McCaskill struck out Mike Brumley to end the inning, but the Angels never recovered.

Rader contends that the team is not far from being good, that the big trouble is the result of small shortcomings.

“Invariably, most of the damage is done with two outs,” Rader said. “That’s what I mean about not making one pitch or one play.”

Twice, the Angels had promising opportunities to tie the score.

In the fifth, with Kent Anderson on first after a single to left, Chili Davis drove a ball deep to right, but Coles made a leaping catch against the wall.

“Another foot or so on Chili’s ball would make a difference,” Rader said. “Those are the kind of things that make the difference you need.”

The Angels put runners on first and second with none out in the sixth on singles by Joyner and Bichette off Seattle starter Brian Holman (5-2), but the inning ended without a run after Brian Downing flied to left, Jack Howell struck out, and Lance Parrish flied to left.

Seattle added another run in the seventh inning when Valle reached on a fielding error by third baseman Jack Howell, his fifth of the season, and Brumley hit a ball off the wall in right-center for a triple.

Port, who says he continues to hold discussions about possible trades, said he is standing by the team.

“I continue to have a lot of faith and confidence in these fellows,” Port said. “As they say, on paper, we are a better ballclub than we have been playing.”

On paper, they are listed at the bottom of the division, along with Kansas City.

Angel Notes

Center fielder Devon White, who is batting .192, was not in the lineup for only the third time this season. Manager Doug Rader repeated his stance that each day’s lineup is the one he believes will be most productive that day. “There’s no question Devon is struggling, no question at all,” Rader said. “But I don’t want anybody to get the impression we’re hanging the whole thing on him. That’s not our intent.” . . . With White sitting out, Dante Bichette moved to center, and Chili Davis started in right, making his first appearance there since Oct. 2, 1988. Brian Downing was the designated hitter, marking the second time in three games that both he and Davis, who have shared DH duties, were in the lineup.