Harvey’s Problem: A Defanged Forkball : Angels: Slump during past three appearances attributed to lack of ‘bite’ in the pitch. But his fastball is still in the 95-m.p.h. range.

The diagnosis on Bryan Harvey’s forkball is that it isn’t “biting,” but opponents have been eating it up lately.

In his first 32 appearances this season, a period spanning 39 innings, Harvey allowed four earned runs.

In his past three appearances, a period spanning three innings, the bullpen ace allowed four earned runs, a statistic that has shocked Angel fans and even some teammates.

“It’s not something you really expect from him,” Angel catcher Lance Parrish said. “He’s been so good, so consistent, that it’s a rare occasion when he gets banged around.”

Harvey’s problem has not been his fastball, which is still clocked in the 95-m.p.h. range. “That’s OK by me,” Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann said.

It’s the forkball, a pitch that normally cuts like a steak knife but has looked more like a spoon-fed offering this past week.

Thursday night, Harvey entered a 1-1 game in the top of the ninth inning. By the time he left, it was 4-1 Cleveland. Harvey ended up with the victory when the Angels rallied to win, 5-4.

Monday night, Harvey came on in the ninth in an attempt to protect a 1-0 lead over Baltimore. Randy Milligan singled, and rookie Chito Martinez hit a two-out, two-run homer off Harvey for a 2-1 Oriole victory.

Last Friday, Harvey gave up a run in the top of the 10th as the Yankees defeated the Angels, 2-1. Harvey did not pitch Friday in the Angels’ 4-2 loss to the Indians.

“The only reason he’s been getting hit is his forkball isn’t biting the way it normally does,” Parrish said. “That’s gonna happen. Chuck Finley’s forkball doesn’t always work well.

“It’s a pitch that, if it doesn’t work properly, looks like you took something off a fastball and left it over the plate. But when it’s biting good, he’s unhittable.”

Harvey, who made the American League All-Star team for the first time in his career but didn’t play in the July 9 game, says he feels fine physically. Like most Angel hitters, he’s simply in a slump.

Harvey is looking for his first save since July 3 and is 1-2 with a 9.00 earned-run average in his last four appearances.

“Every year, it seems like I hit a bad spot,” said Harvey, whose ERA is still a sparkling 1.71. “Hopefully, this one won’t last long. If this were to last a month, it might start shaking my confidence, but it’s only three outings.”

Harvey, who ranks fourth in the American League with 22 saves, hasn’t shown any outward signs of frustration. He’s not the type to hurl his glove in his locker, tear up a bathroom or mope around the clubhouse--or his own house.

“What good is it going to do to bring it home?” Harvey said. “If you get beat like I did by Baltimore the other night, cussing doesn’t make any sense. Some guys get their anger out like that, but I don’t.”

Added Parrish: “He accepts the fact that he’s not going to be perfect all the time. He’s human like everyone else. He’s the type who’s capable of shrugging something like that off and not letting it affect him. He has to be that way.”

It’s one of the requirements of the job. Every mistake closing relief pitchers make is magnified because they come during the late innings when games are on the line. Dwell on a loss or two or a few bad outings, and it could ruin your whole month.

“I’ve never been in a role like that, but I can only assume that when your job is to shut down big innings and you don’t want to give up other pitcher’s runs, it’s a lot of pressure,” Parrish said. “But Bryan handles it well. I’m sure everyone on this team has confidence in him because when he’s on, he just flat out gets the job done.”

Harvey hasn’t sensed that any teammates have lost confidence in him.

“If they expect me to do it every time out . . . there’s not a guy out here who won’t go through a bad spot in a season. You just have to work your way through it.”

Part of working your way through it is putting ineffective outings out of your mind, something Harvey hasn’t had to do too often.

“It’s hard not to get rattled, and I’ll think about (the bad games) every now and then,” Harvey said. “It’s hard to accept the bad games. It’s a lot easier when you’re on top of the mountain. But all it’s going to take is one good outing to snap out of this.”