Angels Are Better, but Still Lose

The Angels didn’t appear helpless and hapless against the Cleveland Indians Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium.

Unlike Friday, when they blew a five-run lead in a comedy of errors, they caught the ball and threw it to the right base. Their pitching didn’t come apart at the seams. And they had 10 hits.

But they lost again, 5-3, before a crowd of 20,688.

That makes six consecutive losses and eight in nine games.

Under normal circumstances, a lost week such as the one the Angels endured would knock a team far down in the standings. But in the stumbling, bumbling American League West, the Angels are still only three games out of first place.

Then again, they’re only 3 1/2 games out of last place, and if they keep losing, it’s not far-fetched to think they might be in the cellar by the All-Star break.

There’s no secret why the Angels aren’t winning. A quick scan of the week’s box scores yields this statistic: The pitching staff has given up nine or more hits in each of the past five games.

Last Sunday, they gave up only six hits, but still lost to the Minnesota Twins, 2-0.

Oakland hammered out 18 hits in Tuesday’s 8-7, 11-inning victory over the Angels. The A’s had nine hits Wednesday and 11 on Thursday. Friday, Cleveland pounded out 16 hits in rallying from five runs down in a 10-8 victory.

And Saturday, the Indians got 10 hits against starter Hilly Hathaway and reliever Gene Nelson. Hathaway (1-1) gave up three home runs--two to light-hitting Glenallen Hill and one to Carlos Baerga--and that ruined any chance the Angels might have had to end their losing streak.

“I don’t expect him to win, 2-1, right now,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said. “I’m hoping he can keep us in games for seven innings, which he did tonight.

“He tried to come inside on Hill (on the first homer). He got the ball down and in and Hill just golfed it. On the other home run, he went at him with a sinker and got it up. Overall, he made three or four bad pitches he didn’t get away with.”

Cleveland starter Jose Mesa (8-5) was far from brilliant, but the Angels couldn’t get much off him. They had only four hits going into the seventh inning and trailed, 4-0.

“We couldn’t score off Mesa,” Rodgers said. “That was the biggest thing. He was awfully tough tonight.”

Mesa hit the wall after getting the first out in the seventh, leaving after giving up three consecutive hits.

Luis Polonia’s run-scoring single to center scored Rene Gonzales, who had doubled, for the Angels’ first run.

Jeremy Hernandez replaced Mesa and gave up an infield single to Chad Curtis, loading the bases.

Tim Salmon followed with a two-run single to center, bringing the Angels to within 4-3. But Hernandez avoided further trouble and the Indian bullpen kept the Angels scoreless in the eighth and ninth.

Hathaway would have had an easier night if he hadn’t faced Hill. Most games, Hill doesn’t strike fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers, but he hit home runs in his first two at-bats, driving in three of the Indians’ four runs.

Hill, batting .236 with three homers and 14 runs batted in going into the game, led off the second with a home run to center. In the fourth, he followed Carlos Martinez’s one-out double with a two-run homer that went into the seats beyond the left-field wall, giving Cleveland a 4-0 lead.

“I have to learn how to get out there and get ahead,” Hathaway said. “When I get behind, it’s like putting the ball on a tee. I battled hard out there. I just have to learn from this one and try to get ahead next time.”

Hathaway settled down after the fourth, but the Angels were punchless against Mesa until the seventh. Their best chance to score came in the fifth when Greg Myers singled, J.T. Snow walked and Gonzales singled.

But Cleveland center field Kenny Lofton threw a strike to catcher Junior Ortiz, who withstood a bone-jarring collision with Myers to tag out the Angel catcher.