Control Fades as the Angels Lose to Twins : Baseball: Anderson makes shaky return, lasting 2 2/3 innings as Minnesota wins, 8-6.

The Anderson family was back home in Geneva, Ohio, scanning the channels Tuesday night on their satellite dish trying to tune in to the Angels’ 8-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

They couldn’t stand the idea of not being able to watch their son, Angel starter Brian Anderson, pitch his first game in a month. But if they had to, they’d resort to a different method.

“I know it sounds ridiculous,” said Janice Anderson, Brian’s mother, “but we’ve sat up all night just keeping it on CNN and watching the ticker constantly update the score. It can be maddening, but sometimes, you don’t have any choice.”

Janice and Jim Anderson were finally able to locate the game on their dish, and stayed up past 2 a.m. (EDT) watching the Angels (24-34) lose for the eighth time in the last nine games. They had one question when the game finally ended.

Was that really their son who started for the Angels in front of 16,045 at Anaheim Stadium?

The reception was a bit fuzzy, and sometimes it was difficult to tell who was pitching, but it sure didn’t look the son they remembered. He yielded five hits, walked four batters and gave up four earned runs in just 2 2/3 innings.

“Mechanically, I was brutal,” Anderson said, “Throwing strikes is usually what I’m best at. I fell behind everyone early, and that doesn’t make it very interesting for them. They know what’s coming.”

“Throwing strikes is usually what I’m best at.”

Said Janice Anderson: “Well, I guess everybody’s entitled to a bad one now and then. But really, I’m just amazed he’s back as fast as he is. His spirits were good the whole time. He never got down.

“The part he hated the most was when the team went away and he was left behind.”

Anderson (3-1), making his first start since May 6 when he broke his left thumb, was annoyed with his control problems. He can’t remember walking four batters in a game in his life. He walked only six batters as a junior at Wright State.

“I’m not going to make any excuses,” Anderson said. “You’re supposed to come back at 100%. I’m not going to get down on myself because I can’t afford to mope around. Just come back at them in five (days).”

Anderson fell behind against eight of the 17 batters he faced, walking three in the second inning alone. Yet, the Angels had a 3-1 lead after two innings, thanks to shortstop Gary DiSarcina’s two-run double in the second.

Yet, in the third inning, Anderson could no longer contain the Twins. DiSarcina rescued him by leaping to grab Shane Mack’s line drive for the first out. Kirby Puckett followed by hitting a double to left. Dave Winfield walked. Pedro Munoz then flied to right.

Anderson got ahead of Scott Leius, 1-and-2, but three pitches later, watched Leius hit a two-run double into the left-center gap. David McCarty followed with another double, and Anderson was out of the game.

The Angels, however, took a 5-4 lead in the fifth when Chad Curtis hit a one-out double. Tim Salmon scored him with another double. And Chili Davis followed with a run-scoring single.

The lead stood as Mark Leiter continued to hold the Twins until the eighth. He got the first two outs in the inning, then pinch-hitter Chip Hale singled up the middle. Chuck Knoblauch followed with a single, moving Hale to second.

Lachemann, deciding that Leiter had enough after five innings, summoned closer Joe Grahe.

It took two pitches until Grahe got into trouble.

He hit Mack in the tricep on the second pitch, loading the bases for Puckett. Then, again on the second pitch, he hit Puckett on the thumb, forcing in the tying run.

Dave Winfield then singled up the middle, scoring Knoblauch and Mack for a 7-5 lead.