Angels Find Inspiration in Victory

This never should have been so painful. It was understood the Angels were supposed to be rotten this year, finishing in the cellar, and worrying about the second phase of their rebuilding plan.

But the Angels made a mistake. They teased everyone in the first half, pretending they were a contender, bouncing in and out of first place.

OK, so maybe Manager Buck Rodgers knew it wasn’t going to last. He was as surprised as anyone that they were only two games out of first place at the All-Star break, but it was too late to stop others from believing the Angels were for real.

It’s too late for the Angels to even think about a pennant race, but after their 5-4, 12-inning victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, perhaps it can serve as inspiration for the rest of the season.

Perhaps it was only fitting for the game to end after four hours, eight minutes with Brewer reliever Graeme Lloyd (3-4) throwing a wild pitch past catcher Dave Nilsson, scoring Luis Polonia from third base with the winning run. Joe Grahe (4-1), the Angels’ fifth pitcher of the game, was the winner.

The Angels’ final rally was set up when Stan Javier led off with a single to center. Polonia failed in his sacrifice-bunt attempt, with Javier thrown out at second. But Chad Curtis perfectly executed a hit-and-run through the right side, advancing Polonia to third.

Then, with Tim Salmon at the plate, Lloyd threw a 2-2 pitch into the dirt that rolled to the screen, scoring Polonia without a throw.

It allowed the Angels (55-65) to win for only the second time in the last eight games, and the 11th time in the last 32 games. Little wonder why they have succumbed to reality, long forgetting about the Chicago White Sox and striving just to stay ahead of the last-place Oakland Athletics.

“You can’t help but be disappointed with what’s going on,” Angel President Richard Brown said. “Our expectations were that we’d be competitive this year, but let’s face it, when the team was in first place as much as it was in the first half, your expectations rise. That’s why it’s so disappointing.”

The Angels once again managed to squander yet another home run from rookie right fielder Tim Salmon, and endured another ninth-inning baserunning blunder.

Salmon homered in his fourth consecutive game in the fourth inning, becoming the first Angel to perform the feat since Devon White in May 18-21, 1987. He now has eliminated the slightest suspense out of the American League Rookie of the Year award with 28 homers and 81 runs batted in. No other rookie in the league has more than 12 homers or 47 RBIs.

The Angels’ lead quickly vanished when Brewer catcher Dave Nilsson hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning, and the Brewers took a 4-3 lead in the ninth when Kevin Seitzer homered to left. It was the third homer of the game given up by Angel starter Mark Langston, the most he has surrendered since July 31, 1991.

The Angels, however, came right back when Torey Lovullo led off the ninth with a single to center off starter Ricky Bones, knocking him out of the game. Lovullo then stole second, and went to third when Carlos Maldonado’s 3-2 pitch to Rene Gonzales bounced past catcher Dave Nilsson.

Gary DiSarcina lined out to right fielder Darryl Hamilton for the first out, but Lovullo scored on Stan Javier’s pinch-hit single off Jesse Orosco. Now, with pinch-runner Rod Correia on second and Javier at first with one out, the Angels appeared prime to win.