Angels Lose Control and Game, 10-3

They were going to lose, that much was clear by the seventh inning Sunday, but the Angels didn’t want to go down without a fight.

But their anger was misdirected into gamesmanship during a 10-3 loss to the Brewers at County Stadium that was their sixth defeat in their last seven games.

Interim manager John Wathan, catcher Mike Fitzgerald and reliever Scott Bailes were ejected by home plate umpire John Shulock during the seventh inning after Bailes narrowly missed hitting Brewer outfielder Darryl Hamilton and pitched inside to Scott Fletcher after being warned to be closer to the strike zone.

The Angels, in trouble after a three-run first against Mark Langston (5-4), were angry that Hamilton stole second with a seven-run lead. The Brewers were equally incensed that Bailes threw a 2-and-0 pitch that sailed behind Hamilton’s back.

Bailes denied trying to throw at Hamilton, but acknowledged he hadn’t forgotten Hamilton had bunted against him to produce the final run during Milwaukee’s 7-1 victory Friday.

“I wasn’t trying to hit him. I was trying to get him off the plate and make sure he didn’t bunt,” Bailes said. “I pitched inside to Hamilton because he bunted the other night, and I wanted to make sure he didn’t do it again. Fletcher, I’ve always pitched inside to him. That’s how we pitch to him.”

Did he intend to pitch that much inside to Hamilton?

“About that much inside,” Bailes said.

Fitzgerald said Shulock told him after cautioning Bailes, “You know what’s going on,” to which Fitzgerald replied, “I do. The guy just stole second base and it’s 10-3 in the seventh inning. We weren’t holding him on. . . . I said, ‘Is there a rule in the book that says a pitcher can’t throw the ball where he wants to?’ That was it. He kept threatening to throw me out of the game.

“I have a lot of respect for a lot of people on that ballclub, for the manager and a few of the players, but in that situation I feel that was poor judgment by Hamilton to steal,” Fitzgerald said. “Whether it’s the next series we play them or next year, he’s going to pay.

“This team is definitely down. When a team is down, you don’t kick them in the face and I strongly feel like a couple of things that happened this series, they kicked us in the face.”

Hamilton said he ran on his own, without a sign from Manager Phil Garner or Foli. “Bailes came out and said to me, ‘To steal second base in that situation is pretty weak,’ ” Hamilton said. “That’s a pretty strange thing for him to say. A guy out there is trying to hit me, but when I steal second base, that’s weak.”

Garner agreed. “Yes, there is a common courtesy in this game,” he said. “If you walk guys and you’re struggling, that’s one thing. If you throw the ball behind batters, then (forget) courtesy and we’ll do what we have to do.”

Although Fitzgerald claimed that he said nothing to Shulock after the walk to Hamilton, Shulock and Fletcher gave different accounts. Fletcher said Fitzgerald asked Shulock, “Is there a rule against trying to knock a guy down?” and Shulock said that Fitzgerald questioned his decision that Bailes was throwing at Hamilton and Fletcher.

Shulock left County Stadium soon after the game, but Don Denkinger, the third base umpire, relayed to reporters Shulock’s account of the incident.

Denkinger said Shulock’s first words to Bailes were, “All right, you’ve been wild. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt, but do it again and you’re out of here.”

He also said that Shulock told him Fitzgerald asked, “Who gives you the authority to try to say we’re throwing at their guys?” Shulock’s reply was: “I have the authority and if it happens again, you and you and you are gone. . . . (The second pitch) was a little inside, but the (third) one, that was it, he had to go.”

And the loss?

Said third baseman Rene Gonzales, who misplayed a grounder as the Brewers scored three runs during the fourth inning: “Today, we stunk. There’s no question about it.”