Bats in Doldrums, Angels Lose in 11th

Luis Sojo’s misplay of Felix Fermin’s 11th-inning grounder wasn’t the cause of the Angels’ 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians Friday night at Anaheim Stadium.

His inability to corral a grounder he readily acknowledged was “a routine ground ball” did let Jerry Browne score the go-ahead run, and Albert Belle’s infield hit off Mark Eichhorn (2-2) did drive in Carlos Baerga with the fourth run. But the game was lost in the fifth inning, when the Angels scored two runs but left two runners on base; and in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, when their leadoff batters walked but could not score.

The Angels’ loss dropped them five games behind the division-leading Minnesota Twins and has driven Manager Doug Rader well past exasperation. His one lineup change Friday succeeded--Gary Gaetti, moved up to second in the order, drove in the second run in the fifth inning--and Rader will do almost anything to jar his team back to life.

“I’m at the point right now where we need to experiment with the lineup and see if we can’t possibly do something to loosen them up a little bit,” Rader said after his team collected only five hits off Cleveland starter Dave Otto and none off relievers Mike York, Jesse Orosco (1-0) and Steve Olin. “I’m willing to try anything about now.”

Try as they might Friday, the Angels couldn’t do much against Otto, who was making his first major league start since Oct. 1, 1989. Belle’s 13th homer of the season gave the Indians a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, but Cleveland gave that run back in the fifth with three errors.

Chuck Finley’s attempt to become the first 14-game winner in the major leagues fell short when the Indians tied the game in the sixth inning on Baerga’s two-out double down the left-field line and Carlos Martinez’s single to center.

Finley walked two and struck out four over eight innings, enough to win in most cases. But not for a team that is hitting .198 over its last eight games and that has scored only 20 runs in that span.

Only pitching performances such as Finley’s have kept this home stand from being a disaster. The Angels have held opponents to four runs or fewer in each game but are 3-5.

“We’re not coming up with the key hits when we need them,” catcher Ron Tingley said. “We had chances--guys hitting the ball right on the nose like Dave Parker did (in the eighth inning), but the guy (center fielder Glenallen Hill) makes a sliding catch.”

The Indians, whose 29-59 record is the worst in the major leagues, made the right plays at the right time. Sojo led off the seventh inning with a walk and moved to second on Dick Schofield’s sacrifice, but Luis Polonia (0 for 5) lined out to Hill in center field and Gaetti flied to left.

Wally Joyner led off the eighth with a walk, but Dave Winfield grounded into a double play. Lance Parrish led off the ninth with a walk and Dave Gallagher’s sacrifice moved pinch-runner Max Venable into scoring position, but Sojo and Schofield grounded out.

“It’s obvious we haven’t been swinging the bats real effectively lately,” Parrish said. “Whatever hits we get, hopefully they’re enough to make it count.”

They weren’t Friday. Browne led off the 11th inning with a sharp grounder to the right side, for a hit. Hill sacrificed him to second and Browne scored when Fermin’s grounder hopped under Sojo’s glove.

“I just (messed) it up,” Sojo said. “No excuses.”

No excuses, but no victory, either.

“There’s no sense in just continually stating the obvious. I just don’t see any point in it,” Rader said. “(Finley) pitched well enough to win. He should be very happy with the job he did. (Mark Eichhorn) did a good job, too. We just didn’t score any runs. There’s no sense in elaborating.”

Tingley, who replaced Parrish for the bottom of the 10th inning, said there was no sense in Sojo blaming himself.

“I know he feels terrible. I feel terrible,” Tingley said. “There’s nothing you can do. We had out chances. Guys did their job when they had to, getting the bunt down, but we didn’t get the key hits.

“You’ve got to get it out of your mind as soon as you can. We need to keep our heads up. We’ve got to stay above water right now and not get down.”