Angels Have Little to Look Forward to After Loss

The Angels will probably improve on their seventh-place finish of 1991, but it will be a hollow achievement.

Their 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins Friday, before 35,844 at Anaheim Stadium, was their 81st defeat, matching their 1991 total and guaranteeing them a record no higher than .500.

Without a better record than their 81-81 finish last season, any gain in the standings isn’t much of a gain at all.

Gene Larkin drove in two runs and Chuck Knoblauch had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run to support Scott Erickson (13-10), who won his fifth consecutive decision. Erickson pitched 7 1/3 innings before yielding to Gary Wayne and Rick Augilera, who put the final touches on Minnesota’s 10th triumph over the Angels in 11 meetings this season.

“It just shows you the consistency Oakland has had all year,” Angel pitcher Bert Blyleven said. “Minnesota has got a very good hitting ball club, and their pitching has been pretty consistent. And for Oakland to be that far ahead, it shows you what a good ball club Oakland has.”

The Twins, who were 8 1/2 games behind the division-leading Oakland A’s before Friday night, scored three runs Friday off Angel starter Bert Blyleven (8-9).

The 41-year-old right-hander failed in his second attempt at his 288th victory and has lost four of his last five starts. He is 0-3 against the Twins this season and has a five-game losing streak against his former team.

The Angels, as has been the case too often this season, offered little in the way of support for the pitching staff.

“Burt pitched pretty well the whole game,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said. “The problem was that it’s pretty tough to score when you only get one run and four hits.”

The Twins got to Blyleven for a run in each of the first three innings.

Knoblauch led off the game with a single to left and survived a botched pickoff play to move into scoring position when Mack was hit by a pitch. Puckett flied to center, but Pedro Munoz singled to center, scoring Knoblauch.

Walking Lenny Webster with one out cost Blyleven another run. Webster went to second on a ground out and scored when Knoblauch singled over the head of second baseman Ken Oberkfell for his 52nd RBI, two more than he collected last season when he was voted the AL’s rookie of the year.

Mack led off the third with a single and took second on Puckett’s grounder. He held at second when Munoz grounded to third but scored when Larkin singled to center.

Only one Angel baserunner got into scoring position in the first four innings. That occurred in the second, after Lee Stevens hit a chopper to second for a single. He was forced out at second by Chad Curtis, but Curtis soon after stole second, his 32nd of the season.

Curtis and Luis Polonia are the first Angel duo to each steal at least 30 bases in a season since Bobby Bonds and Jerry Remy each stole 41 in 1977.

Blyleven steadied himself well enough to allow only one hit through the middle innings, but the damage was already done. He left after six innings, having thrown 93 pitches.