BASEBALL : DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Parker Not Worried by His Slump

Dave Parker homered against Seattle April 9 in his first at-bat as an Angel, but he has yet to hit a second. He is in a six-for-45 slump and is batting .175 after going hitless in his four at-bats Tuesday night.

“Ain’t like it never happened before,” Parker said before the game Tuesday. “My mechanics are screwed up. I look at it as trying to do too much--new ballclub and all. You know, just wanting to show right away what I can do. Get off on a good foot, be productive and let the fans know you can still be a productive player. Your teammates, too, although most of them know what I can do. It leaves you basically swinging at bad pitches.”

Parker leads the team in strikeouts with 13.

Bob McClure’s first appearance of the season--and only his 12th in the past two seasons--was not a pleasant one.

But McClure said his arm “felt great” in Monday night’s debut, and that pitcher Scott Bailes told him in the bullpen he has never seen him throw harder.

McClure came on in the eighth inning of Monday’s 4-3 loss to Seattle and faced three batters, walking the first two to load the bases to a chorus of boos. He got one out--a fielder’s choice grounder that allowed the Mariners’ final run to score.

“My arm felt great, it’s just a shame,” said McClure, who sat out most of last season because of tendinitis in his left elbow and was slowed by a sore shoulder this season. “You feel bad contributing in that way to a loss. I feel doubly bad after (Jim Abbott) pitched so well to let them score the run that gave him a loss instead of no decision.”

McClure doesn’t often hear the crowd, but heard it Monday.

“I walked (Alvin) Davis, and when I went 3-and-0 on (Jay) Buhner, I hear them go, ‘Booooo.’ ” he said. “I kind of smiled at (first baseman Wally Joyner) like I knew I would get the next guy, even though it was 3-and-0.”

Instead, McClure walked him and allowed the run on a fielder’s choice grounder when he was hoping for a double-play ball.