Timing Isn’t Right for Bo and Angels : Baseball: It’s a long day as Jackson strikes out four times in a 5-2 loss to the Yankees.

Bo Jackson was deep in sleep Thursday morning when he was startled by a loud noise--his alarm clock going off.

It was 6 o’clock and he wasn’t supposed to get up for another four hours.

So he reached over and threw the clock, smashing it to pieces against the wall.

That kind of start should have told Jackson what the day had in store for him.

“It’s days like this that you wish you could snap your fingers and disappear, and go to the North Pole and watch polar bears all day,” he said.

Instead, Jackson had to spend his day at Yankee Stadium, where in the Angels’ 5-2 loss to the Yankees, he struck out four times, booted one ball, juggled another, accidentally flung his bat into the stands, got into an argument with plate umpire Durwood Merrill, was fined by Merrill and probably earned a spot back on the bench for two days.

“Life is a bitch, anyway, and then you’ve got to come to New York to play the Yankees,” Jackson said. “You know, I’ve always hated this place.”

And he couldn’t recall a less satisfying afternoon.

“What a day,” he said. “I owe Durwood $100. I owe the hotel $50 for the clock. And Bill Clinton gets his cut. Everybody got a piece of me today.”

At the center of Jackson’s troubles was Yankee starter Jimmy Key. Key (13-2) struck out Jackson three times, each time with a runner on base. Jackson, who has not hit the ball out of the infield against Key this season, has a .139 lifetime batting average against him and has struck out 15 times in 36 at-bats.

“I’d rather face (hard-throwing) Randy Johnson (of Seattle) than Jimmy Key any day,” Jackson said. “He’ll throw soft, softer and softer. Then he’ll bust you in on a fastball and make it look like a Mach 3.”

Key, tied with San Diego’s Ken Hill for the major league lead in victories, yielded six hits and two runs in seven innings. Wade Boggs, starting at first base for the first time since 1982, broke a 2-2 tie with a run-scoring single against Mark Langston (5-5) in the seventh inning.

“I made a mistake and I paid for it,” Langston said of his 0-2 pitch to Boggs. “When you go against Jimmy Key, you’re not allowed to make too many mistakes.”

The defeat was the Angels’ 24th in 37 games and left them at 36-50. It is only the second time since 1978 that they have lost 50 games before the All-Star break.

Key was tough on everyone in the lineup except catcher Chris Turner, who went three for four and was robbed of another hit. But no one endured more punishment than Jackson.

He struck out in the second inning with a runner on base, his bat flying into the stands.

He struck out again in the fourth, this time looking. He threw his helmet and bat to the ground, screamed at Merrill, and was fined $100.

“I really don’t know what Durwood was thinking behind the plate,” Jackson said. “It’s mind-boggling sometimes.”

Then in the sixth inning, he struck out with Chili Davis on second.

In the seventh, his defense let him down. The Yankees had Randy Velarde on first and Gerald Williams on second with two out when Langston got his 0-2 count on Boggs. The next pitch was supposed to be up and in but it sank and Boggs slapped it into left field.

Jackson ran in to field the ball but kicked it away instead, allowing Williams to score easily. Langston kicked the mound in frustration, then, on an 0-1 pitch to Danny Tartabull, slipped on the mound and helplessly watched Tartabull hit another single to left. This time, Jackson picked up the ball, then dropped it and Velarde scored.

And in the eighth, Jackson struck out for the final time, this time against Bob Wickman with runners on first and third.

“I have no excuse, no excuse at all for what happened,” Jackson said.

“Life goes on.

“The sun will shine somewhere today.”