Angels’ Collapse Goes On : Baseball: Lachemann, Phillips ejected as Boston wins, 8-1. Losing streak hits nine.

Here’s how things are going for the Angels: They had more ejections than runs scored Sunday against the Boston Red Sox.

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield baffled Angel hitters and the Red Sox battered another Angel starter in an 8-1 victory before a paid 32,987 in Fenway Park. The Angel losing streak is nine and their lead in the American League West is 5 1/2 games.

Neither Manager Marcel Lachemann, who was ejected in the fourth inning after an uncharacteristic display of emotion and frustration, nor third baseman Tony Phillips, tossed for arguing a called third strike in the fifth, was around to see the end of another uninspired effort.

The Angels, who have lost 15 of 18 games, had a 20-minute team meeting afterward--life preservers optional--in which Lachemann apologized for his actions and several players spoke of the need to stop analyzing and dwelling on everything that’s going wrong.

“Our focus is not on ability any more, it’s on the little things that can beat us,” second baseman Rex Hudler said. “We’re focusing on umpires and the little breaks that don’t go our way.’

And don’t think the possibility of a complete collapse--the Angels had an 11-game lead on Aug. 9--hasn’t crossed their minds.

“Yeah, it’s slipping away, that’s a realization,” Phillips said. “The only way we can change that is to start winning.”

They hardly had a chance Sunday. Boston third baseman Tim Naehring hit a three-run home run in the first inning off Chuck Finley and the Red Sox added to their lead in small increments while Wakefield (15-3) shut down the Angels on four hits over eight innings.

Lachemann, who had not been ejected in 1 1/2 seasons as a manager, hit his breaking point when he came to the mound to talk to Finley after John Valentin’s RBI single made it 6-1 in the fourth.

Still fuming over a Valentin check swing that plate umpire Larry Barnett ruled a ball, Lachemann was ejected after a short argument. On his way to the dugout he kicked a batting helmet onto the field.

Lachemann then stepped back onto the field. What would he throw next? A water cooler? A bag of baseballs? A few bats?

Nothing. The manager just went to retrieve the batting helmet and put it back in the dugout before heading for the clubhouse.

“That was probably a very poor decision on my part, and I’m not very proud of it,” Lachemann said of his ejection. “I’m supposed to be the leader of this club. To lose it like that . . . I apologize to the Angels, and it won’t happen again.”

Lachemann continued to take responsibility for his team’s poor performance.

“The front office got me every player I asked for, they’ve done everything they can do to improve the club,” he said. “It’s basically in my lap.”

Noble, but not true. It’s in the pitchers’ hands. The Angels have a 6.81 earned-run average in the past 18 games and Sunday was the seventh consecutive game in which a starter didn’t go at least six innings.

Finley, who gave up eight runs in a 12-4 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday, yielded six runs in 3 2/3 innings, one day after Mark Langston gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings in Saturday’s 5-4 loss.

“The team looks upon Mark and I to solve these things,” Finley said. “But neither one of us has done anything worth a [damn] on this road trip. When you look at the scoreboard and every inning they’re gaining two more points, I know the position players are saying, ‘What more can we do?’ Their hands are tied. Pitching is everything.”