Carew Blasts Angels After Latest Setback : Baseball: Hitting coach criticizes hitters for selfishness after Finley’s impressive outing is wasted in a 1-0 loss to A’s.

Chuck Finley, who has lost his last two starts despite giving up a total of three runs, was not allowed to talk about Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics. But hitting instructor Rod Carew vented enough frustration for the whole team.

Finley’s 1-2 forkball to Scott Brosius in the ninth inning hung a bit high, and the A’s third baseman sent a towering fly ball into the left field seats that sent the Angels to their third consecutive defeat and most of the 25,010 fans in the Oakland Coliseum home happy.

The Angels, however, left for a 10-game road swing through the East in a foul mood. After the game, Manager Marcel Lachemann told reporters that Finley would not be available. “It’s my decision, and don’t push me on it,” he said.

Carew, however, had plenty to say about the Angel batters’ selfish approach. The Angels have not scored a run in the last 22 innings, and Carew says too many hitters are putting more emphasis on their statistics than winning.

“We have too many guys who are not willing to give themselves up for the team,” Carew said. “There are a few who are selfish. Damion Easley, Chad Curtis, all the little guys on this club want to be the big swingers.

“Chili (Davis), Timmy (Salmon) and Bo (Jackson) aren’t going to be asked to give themselves up, but everybody else on this club should. Those guys can hit home runs. The rest shouldn’t even be trying to. I just don’t understand it because it’s just common sense.

“Sometimes, one run can mean an awful lot to a ballclub.”

Finley can relate to that. He gave up only four hits in 8 1/3 innings and “threw as well as I have ever seen him at any time,” said Lachemann, the former Angel pitching coach who has seen most of Finley’s best performances.

The Angels certainly didn’t have many baserunners. Substitute Oakland starter Carlos Reyes gave up two hits and two walks in eight innings, and Dennis Eckersley retired the Angels in order in the ninth to earn the victory, the A’s seventh in a row and 13th in their last 15 games.

Spike Owen began the game by reaching second base on Oakland shortstop Mike Bordick’s throwing error. Owen was stranded, though, as he was after his one-out single in the sixth.

“You shouldn’t have to wait for the manager to give you a sign,” Carew said. “I just sit there and wonder what they’re thinking. I don’t understand the pitches they swing at or the pitches they take in certain situations. And don’t tell me they’re young players. I don’t buy that. They’ve been playing this game all their life and if they don’t know it by now, I don’t know what else we can do.

“We take extra batting practice every day and we’re not just out there swinging the bat. We’re calling situations, a guy is on second with no outs, a guy is on third with one out. I don’t mind preaching this stuff every day if they would execute it. But this is frustrating, very, very frustrating.”

Lachemann, not one to openly criticize his players, said he was partly to blame for not finding a way to shake his team out of the doldrums.

“It’s very tough to lose a game when a guy pitches as well as Chuck did,” he said. “You don’t want to get into a state of panic, but we scored only two runs in three games here and I’ve got to consider ways to shake things up.”

If he takes Carew’s advice, he’ll put more veterans in the lineup and bench some of his young free-swingers.

“You give me a Spike Owen or a Rex Hudler or a Harold Reynolds,” Carew said. “If something needs to be done for the team, they’ll do it.”

With designated hitter Davis out of the lineup because of a groin injury during this series, the Angels’ offense was clearly flailing and failing.

“Guys who aren’t paid to hit home runs should be worrying about getting on base,” Davis said.