Williams No Help in Angel Loss

Mitch Williams returned from a one-day leave of absence just in time to drop his suitcase in the Camden Yards clubhouse and give the Angels yet another mediocre effort during a 6-2 loss to the Orioles Saturday night before 45,712.

Williams, who arrived at the park after the first pitch was thrown, finally began to unpack his bag as he spoke to reporters after the game. But the way he’s pitching, he might want to keep that suitcase packed.

The left-hander replaced starter Mike Bielecki with two out and a runner on third base in the seventh inning of a 5-2 game. He walked Rafael Palmeiro, a left-hander of the kind the Angels are paying Williams $500,000 this season to retire. Then he gave up an RBI single to Cal Ripken Jr.

Moments later, Manager Marcel Lachemann was at the mound, and Williams was trudging back to the dugout, wondering if he’ll ever return to the form that helped him save 43 games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1993.

Williams did not cost the Angels the game. They mounted a weak, seven-hit attack against Baltimore starter Ben McDonald (2-3) and did not threaten to score in the seventh, eighth or ninth innings of their second consecutive loss.

The run Williams allowed merely increased the Orioles’ margin of victory, which was attained with the help of third baseman Jeff Manto, who became the 24th player in major league history to hit home runs in four consecutive at-bats when he connected for a bases-empty shot in the second inning.

But Williams’ unproductive outing was another in a pattern of pitiful performances. He hasn’t retired a batter in six of his last 12 appearances and has a 7.45 earned-run average with 19 walks in 9 2/3 innings.

“This team [was] in first place and I’ve done nothing but hold them back,” Williams said.

Now the Angels aren’t sure how much longer they can hold onto Williams, who was cleared by the Angel front office to miss Friday’s game to tend to “personal business.” He would not elaborate.

Williams, a closer for almost all of his 10-year career, is having trouble adjusting to the set-up role, where his primary job is to face left-handers, and where he has no time to pitch out of jams.

The Angels have considered sending him to triple-A Vancouver for steady work, but Williams is balking at that option.

“I’ve already told them I’m not going to triple-A,” Williams said. “I have nothing to prove there. If this is not good enough, it’s not good enough. If I get released . . . I’d probably retire.”

Lachemann said he would not make a decision about Williams before discussing the situation with General Manager Bill Bavasi and pitching coach Chuck Hernandez.

“But it’s something that definitely has to be addressed,” Lachemann said. “I don’t know what the possibilities are.”

Williams said: “Of course, they’re getting impatient, they’d be fools not to be. All I can do is go out every night and do what I can.

“It’s a tough adjustment only facing one or two hitters--it usually takes me one or two hitters to get comfortable on the mound. But I don’t have the luxury of time. I haven’t done the job, and I don’t know what they’re going to do.”

Mike Butcher replaced Williams and didn’t allow a run in the seventh or eighth inning, but the game had long since been decided.

Manto’s fifth homer in the last three games gave Baltimore a 2-1 lead in the second. It also was his fourth homer in his last four official at-bats, tying the major league record for most consecutive homers in three games set by the Yankees’ Johnny Blanchard in 1961. Manto flied out in the sixth.

Chili Davis’ bases-empty homer in the fourth tied the score, 2-2, but RBI singles by Chris Hoiles and Curtis Goodwin gave the Orioles a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the inning.

Goodwin, the No. 9 hitter who has gone five for six in two games against the Angels, singled and scored on Jeffrey Hammonds’ triple in the seventh to make it 5-2, and Ripken drove in the final run against Williams.

“We’re getting outhit, outpitched and outplayed,” Angel left fielder Tony Phillips said. “We’re not beating ourselves, making mistakes. We’re just playing good enough to get beat.”