Canseco Takes Angels Deeper Into Standings : Baseball: Angels fall to 15 1/2 back as A’s outfielder has two home runs and six RBIs in 13-3 victory.

By neither word nor deed could the Angels dispute Jose Canseco’s assertion that they are out of the American League West race.

One day after the flamboyant Oakland outfielder had declared that the Angels couldn’t catch the Athletics, Canseco embellished his point with a two-home run, six-RBI performance in the A’s 13-3 demolition of the Angels Wednesday at the Oakland Coliseum. The defeat dropped the Angels 15 1/2 games out of first place, a difference Canseco declared unassailable.

“Sorry guys,” Canseco said after matching his career-high RBI output for a single game and increasing Oakland’s lead over the second-place Chicago White Sox to four games. “Miracles happen, but geez. We’re not going to lay down for anybody.”

Told that Canseco believes it impossible for the Angels to catch up, Brian Downing couldn’t disagree.

“It’s pretty damn close,” Downing said. “That’s not a give-up statement, but hell, there’s four teams ahead of us. We may not win, but we’ll go down hard. We can keep fighting and take people out. We can try not to let people push us around. There’s no reason to give up, and I don’t think with our manager you’re going to see that. . . .

“Have we been overwhelmed? Nah. This is the big leagues. This is not Taiwan against the U.S. (in Little League). Or is it? This is the first time I can remember in several years they’ve pounded our butts. Generally, we’ve lost games like the first one here (a 7-6, 10-inning loss Monday) on funny plays, but the last two, we’ve gotten beat.”

Their consolation after squandering a 6-0 lead Monday was that they had stayed close to the A’s, and Tuesday’s mantra was that they had gotten to the A’s pitchers and fell nobly short in a 5-3 loss. They had no such straws to clutch Wednesday against Curt Young (6-4) because Canseco made it a near farce from the beginning, and the Angels’ relievers--with the exception of Cliff Young--failed them again.

The season probably was lost before this game or before they lost the first three of this four-game series and fell into a four-game swoon, but this defeat was certified Wednesday as the Angels’ day of reckoning.

“In order for us to catch them we’d have to play unbelievably and they’d have to fall flat, and I don’t see that happening,” catcher Lance Parrish said. “It’s not impossible, but for them to be so bad to lose a great majority of their ballgames, I can’t see it.”

Canseco’s 485-foot blast to left field off Bert Blyleven (8-6) in the first inning carried him to the 30-homer level for the fourth consecutive season and set the tone in a 17-hit attack. Ron Hassey also homered in the inning, and Canseco homered again in the fourth, two innings after he was brushed on the left arm by Blyleven’s pitch.

At that point, Canseco and Blyleven were restrained from combat by the umpires and their respective managers, but not before Canseco had his say. Blyleven was out of the game after 3 2/3 innings and left the Angels’ clubhouse before revealing his response.

“I said, ‘Don’t do it again,’ ” Canseco said. “The only way I’ll go out to the mound is if I’m totally forced to, and it’s going to be totally ugly. I’m a lover, not a fighter. . . . If I would have thought he hit me on purpose, I would have gone out and pulled off a body part.”

His home run to left-center in the fourth was his 31st, lifting him within one of American League leader Cecil Fielder of Detroit. With typical brashness, Canseco said he’s shooting for 60--and his spree of nine home runs in the last 15 games weighs in his favor.

“I will not put any limitations on myself,” said Canseco, who has six two-homer games this season and three in his last seven. “It would be awe-inspiring. Nowadays, it would be that much more difficult because of the (high) quality of pitchers. Whoever hits 60 home runs, you have to put him on a pedestal.”

His home run in the fourth put the A’s ahead, 6-2, and the Angels hardly stirred after that. Johnny Ray’s run-scoring single in the seventh was followed by five Oakland runs in the bottom of the inning as the A’s hit Scott Bailes and Mark Eichhorn in a scene that has become increasingly familiar.

After 2 1/3 scoreless innings from Young, Bailes entered the game in the seventh and gave up three hits and three runs. In his last four appearances, Bailes has given up nine earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .315 against him, and his earned-run average has soared to 6.37. Hitters have also caught up with Eichhorn, who was the bullpen’s savior early in the season. Oakland got to him for three runs Wednesday. Eichhorn has given up 13 earned runs in his last 5 2/3 innings. He hasn’t recorded a save since June 19.

“We need to get our bullpen depth back so we can play maneuverability games like (A’s Manager) Tony La Russa gets to play,” Downing said.

The games the Angels play from now on will be meaningful for their pride rather than a divisional race.

“The first game (of this series) would have been a hell of a game to win--it was definitely a big game for them to win with a big comeback like that,” Downing said. “There’s no telling what might have happened if we’d won. It got them going and they’ve steamrolled (us) since. . . . You’d like to think with the starting pitching we have, we can roll off 10 wins. We definitely have the capability, but you get tired of talking about it after a while--you want to see it, do it. . . .

“You can’t be overly positive when you get crushed every day. We’ve just been overmatched the last couple of days.”

Angel Notes

Bert Blyleven, who won 17 games last season, has only one victory in his last six outings and he went the minimum five innings to get that last Friday. He has failed to last beyond the fifth inning in five consecutive starts. “I don’t know how to be genteel about it because I’m not able,” Manager Doug Rader said of the 39-year-old right-hander’s work Wednesday. “It’s very difficult to get into something like that unless I can say something positive.” Without mentioning Blyleven by name, Rader later added: “Good speed and good location gets people out.” . . . The Angels’ loss was their 51st, a total they didn’t reach last season until Aug. 23.

Pitching coach Marcel Lachemann is working with Mark Langston to simplify the left-hander’s delivery, among other adjustments. Langston, who has lost seven consecutive decisions, will try some modifications Friday night against the Mariners in Seattle. “There’s a lot of parts to it,” Lachemann said of Langston’s delivery. “The simpler a pitcher’s delivery is, the more it’s going to be consistent. He’s done well with this delivery before.”

An examination by A’s physician Dr. Rick Bost confirmed that Angel shortstop Dick Schofield has a slight strain of his right rotator cuff. Schofield, who injured the shoulder in making a pair of throws Sunday, didn’t throw Wednesday but is to resume throwing today. His status is day-to-day. . . . Oakland first baseman Mark McGwire was charged with an error when he dropped a foul pop-up by Brian Downing in the sixth inning, ending his streak of 103 errorless games.