Eight Is More Than Enough : Angels: After losing streak is extended by the Yankees, 5-3, the team vents its mounting frustration in the clubhouse.

The metal door to the Angel dugout was smashed into the wall, pockmarked by punches. The bathroom door was obliterated, with the ventilation screen kicked out, and broken pieces of wood littering the floor.

The broken bats, shattered helmets and torn jerseys lay inside the clubhouse Saturday, with players walking sheepishly through the debris.

Those were the remnants of an eight-game losing streak after the Angels’ 5-3 defeat to the New York Yankees on Saturday.

“A young club gets more frustrated than a veteran club,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said, “and we’re very frustrated right now. The more frustrated they become, the more doubts start settling in, and the more confidence they lose.

“There’s nothing you can do about that, but we’ve got to keep them from sucking on a gas pipe, jumping off a building or slitting their throat.

“But it’s funny how a a guy can think about hara-kiri one day, and feel on top of the world the next.”

Scott Sanderson (7-11), who lost his career-high ninth consecutive decision, is expected to be the first victim of the Angels’ losing streak. The Angels are considering replacing him in the rotation with minor leaguer Phil Leftwich.

“We’re not quite at the point of pulling the plug,” Rodgers said, “but we’re certainly getting closer than I wanted to be.”

Sanderson--who has a 6.23 earned-run average during his winless streak--says that there is only a slight difference in his performance now compared to when he was 7-2 in May. The difference, he says, is “just one pitch or two the whole game.”

Of course, that one pitch Saturday was a hanging curveball that was hit 460 feet.

The Angels were trailing, 1-0, in the fifth inning when Dion James hit a two-out double. Rodgers ordered Sanderson to intentionally walk Don Mattingly and pitch to Danny Tartabull.

“They’re both on a tear,” Rodgers shrugged, “so why pitch to both of them?”

Tartabull, who had already driven in the game’s first run in the fourth inning after homering twice with four RBIs Thursday, seethed while watching from the on-deck circle.

“To me, that’s the ultimate challenge,” Tartabull said. “I thought it was the right decision, because Donnie’s left-handed and pretty hot, but you still want to prove they made a mistake.”

Sanderson got ahead of Tartabull on a 1-and-2 count when he tried to fool him with a curveball. Sanderson jerked his head around in time to watch the ball carry into the center-field bleachers, stunning the crowd of 44,786 at Yankee Stadium.

Tartabull became only the second Yankee player since the renovation of Yankee Stadium in 1976 to reach the center-field bleachers, joining Reggie Jackson. It was Tartabull’s third homer and eighth RBI of the series against the Angels, whom he has outscored, 8-6, in the series.

“When things are going good, they’ll miss a pitch like that,” said Sanderson, who had been 4-0 with an 0.95 ERA against his former teammates at Yankee Stadium. “But not with the way things are going lately.”

The Angels’ only consolation was that they lost to a pitcher who wasn’t a rookie. They even managed to score when Chili Davis hit a three-run homer in the seventh against Scott Kamieniecki. They were Davis’ first RBIs of the trip.

“It still makes you sick,” Angel left fielder Luis Polonia said. “I don’t have any idea what’s going on with us. We’re making all of these guys look like Cy Young winners.”

Said Davis: “What are you going to do? We’ve just dug ourselves a three-foot by six-foot hole, and we’re sucking for air. Maybe there’ll be some guy down there with us who can dig us out.”