Angels Stymied by the Orioles : Baseball: They are held scoreless into the seventh inning by Baltimore’s McDonald and trail by 8-2 in the ninth.

Continuing their degeneration from bad to worse to worse still, the Angels on Monday night were headed for their 11th loss in 13 games.

Ben McDonald (7-2) held the Angels scoreless into the seventh but was relieved by Storm Davis after giving up singles to Rene Gonzales and Lance Parrish. Gary DiSarcina then grounded into a double play, unaccountably not running to first, but Gonzales moved to third. He scored when Luis Polonia beat out a grounder to short.

Polonia provided the 23,560 at Anaheim Stadium with something to cheer about when he stole second and third after his hit, but he was stranded on third when Chad Curtis struck out swinging.

An RBI-single by Cal Ripken Jr. and a two-run home run by Randy Milligan against Julio Valera (2-4) were all the Orioles needed to remain a game behind Toronto in the AL East and defeat the Angels for the third time in four meetings this season. They added another run in the seventh on a double by Bill Ripken, a groundout and a single by Mike Devereaux, and four in the ninth off Chuck Crim.

Valera didn’t pitch badly, but the Angels gave him no offensive support. They stranded five runners in the first four innings, including runners at second and third in the fourth. Valera gave up seven hits and struck out five in his 6 1/3-inning effort.

The Angels, who are 2-8 under interim Manager John Wathan, have scored three runs or fewer in each of their last seven games and nine of the last 11. With a 21-28 record--the largest margin they’ve fallen below .500--they now share fifth place with the Mariners.

Valera had a rocky first inning, giving up three runs before settling down. Given the Angels’ recent problems scoring runs, a three-run deficit was considerable.

Mike Devereaux, who had only one hit in his previous 20 at-bats, got things going for the Orioles with a double down the left-field line. He scored when Cal Ripken Jr. singled up the middle, which extended the Oriole shortstop’s hitting streak to 11 games.

Valera got Sam Horn to pop up, but Milligan hit a 1-and-0 pitch into the left-field seats for his fourth homer of the season and a 3-0 Baltimore lead. The homer was only the second given up by Valera in 47 1/3 innings this season.

The Orioles mounted another threat in the third, when Devereaux hit a line drive into the right-field corner that eluded Von Hayes long enough for Devereaux to race to third with one out. But Ripken flied to shallow right--Devereaux faked a dash home and then held up--and Horn also flied to right.

The Angels were being stymied by McDonald and by the Oriole defense. Chad Curtis drew a one-out walk during the first but got no further, because Hayes lined to third sharply enough for Leo Gomez to catch the ball and throw to first and double off Curtis.

Another one-out walk in the second, this by Alvin Davis, was wasted when Gary Gaetti forced him at second and former Oriole Rene Gonzales lined to right.

A good defensive play by center fielder Curtis helped the Angels hold off the Orioles in the fourth. After Milligan walked, Chris Hoiles hit a high fly to deepest center, taking Curtis back to the warning track. The rookie outfielder leaped to catch the ball about a foot in front of the fence, hitting the fence on his way down but keeping hold of the ball. Milligan tagged on the play, but Valera kept him from advancing further by striking out Chito Martinez and Gomez.

The Angels squandered an excellent scoring chance during the fourth, when a double by Davis and a single by Gaetti put runners on second and third with one out. But that went by the wayside when Gonzales struck out--leaving him one for 14 in his last four games--and Lance Parrish popped to second. That left Parrish with one hit in 14 at-bats since being activated off the disabled list last week.

Horn stroked hit a double down the right-field line with one out in the sixth, but Baltimore couldn’t add to its lead.