Lewis Plea Falls on Deaf Ears : Baseball: Angels beat Blue Jays, 11-8. Pitcher sounds off after he is removed early for failing to hold a 6-0 lead.

Scott Lewis begged to stay in the game when Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann visited him on the mound in the fourth inning Saturday.

Lachemann ignored the rookie right-hander’s plea. If Lewis hadn’t been taking the Angels out of the game, Lachemann might have left him in.

What should have been a frolic in the sunshine of the open-roofed SkyDome evolved into a protracted and sometimes tense 11-8 Angel victory when Lewis couldn’t hold off the Blue Jays. Given a 6-0 lead, built principally in the second inning on Dave Winfield’s ninth career grand slam, Lewis gave most of that bounty back.

When he left after 3 2/3 innings, he had given up four runs and put runners on first and second. Former Blue Jay Mark Eichhorn (1-1) quashed that threat and earned the victory with 2 1/3 shutout innings.

“I thought he’d settle down and pitch comfortably after we got the six-run lead, but he got himself back in trouble,” said Angel catcher Ron Tingley, Lewis’ frequent batterymate last season with triple-A Edmonton.

“I’ve never seen him pitch this bad, ever. He might have had one bad game where he got knocked around, but he always seemed to fight his way back. That’s the thing he hasn’t done here, fight his way back, shut them down the next inning. He’ll come back, give up one or two. . . . You might credit a little bit (of Lewis’ difficulty) to different hitters, but if you’re making your pitches, these guys are outs, too.”

Lewis hasn’t recorded enough outs to keep the fifth spot in the starting rotation and fend off a challenge by Fernando Valenzuela, who threw a seven-inning shutout in his last scheduled minor league start Saturday at Little Rock, Ark. In nine starts and 10 appearances, Lewis is 1-5 with a 6.80 earned-run average. He is 0-5 with two no-decisions in six starts since his 7-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics April 18.

Still, Lewis contended he didn’t get a chance to win Saturday because he was taken out too soon.

“They weren’t really racking me around the yard,” said Lewis, whose last turn in the rotation was skipped because of an off-day. “I made some good pitches that they hit. . . . (With Edmonton,) I got the opportunity to shut the door. When I got in trouble, I wasn’t out of the game.

“Look at Chuck (Finley). He gives up six hits and four runs (Wednesday in Chicago), and he wasn’t out of there. If it was me, I’d be out of there. You can’t do it if you’re not given the opportunity.

Lachemann and Angel Manager Doug Rader said they haven’t set the rotation beyond the next four games. Jim Abbott will start today, Finley on Tuesday, Kirk McCaskill on Wednesday and Mark Langston on Thursday. Neither Lachemann nor Rader would say whether--or when--Lewis will start again.

His uncertain status bothered Lewis more than his no-decision Saturday.

“The more the Fernando stuff goes on, the more irritated I get,” he said. “It’s a big stigma hanging on your back. Fernando can’t do (anything) about what I do, and I can’t do anything about him.”

Rader analyzed Lewis’ problem Saturday as faulty location, which he said also afflicted reliever Jeff Robinson Saturday and Mark Langston Friday in the Angels’ 5-1 loss.

Robinson entered the game in the seventh inning, with the Angels leading, 10-4. The first six runs were charged to former Angel Willie Fraser, who replaced Dave Stieb shortly before the game when tendinitis in his pitching shoulder rendered Stieb unable to start. Stieb was put on the disabled list.

Robinson gave up a two-run homer to Joe Carter in the seventh inning and a leadoff homer to John Olerud and a single to Ed Sprague in the eighth before yielding to Bryan Harvey. Sprague eventually scored to cut the Angels’ lead to 10-8.

Harvey struck out five in two innings to earn his 13th save in 14 opportunities.

What will happen to Lewis is unclear, but he remains confident. “I want the ball,” he said. “I want this whole thing to be over.”