Angels Failing to Sneak Past Foes

They were Tim Salmon, Chili Davis and The Unknowns going into 1995, a bunch of kids who almost transformed themselves into the Hammerin’ Halos and nearly won the American League West title.

The Angels, however, are marked men in 1996.

“We can’t sneak up on people anymore,” Angel first baseman J.T. Snow said. “Last year we’d put 10 runs on the board before anyone knew what was going on, but this year pitchers know what we’re going to bring, they’re ready for us, and they’re gunning for us.”

The Angels didn’t exactly fire blanks Thursday night--they managed nine hits against the Toronto Blue Jays--but their offense was more of a pop-gun attack in a 7-4 loss before 25,512 in the SkyDome.

Eight of their hits were singles, Snow’s RBI double in the third accounting for the only extra-base hit, as Blue Jay starter Erik Hanson put another muffle on Angel bats.

In winning two of three from the Angels, Toronto starters Pat Hentgen, Juan Guzman and Hanson gave up six runs and 19 hits in 25 innings.

“When they’re throwing 92 mph on the corners, moving pitches inside and outside, and not making mistakes, they’re going to shut you down,” Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina said. “Pitchers are bearing down on us, because they know they can’t make mistakes . . . but it’s way, way, too early to panic.”

Manager Marcel Lachemann, who shook up Thursday’s lineup by starting Rex Hudler over Randy Velarde at second and Tim Wallach instead of rookie George Arias at third, agrees.

“We’re not hitting the ball the way we can, the way we will, but the pitching the last few days has been excellent,” he said. “When our guys are hot and in a good groove, a lot of guys who are throwing the ball well are going to have trouble with us.”

The Blue Jays had little trouble solving Angel starter Jim Abbott Thursday night, knocking him around for six runs on 11 hits in 6 2/3 innings. Toronto broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh on Otis Nixon’s single and consecutive RBI doubles by Tilson Brito and Joe Carter.

The Blue Jays added an insurance run in the eighth on Carlos Delgado’s bases-empty homer off reliever Mark Holzemer. The Angels were unable to do anything against Toronto relievers Tim Crabtree, who pitched the eighth, and Mike Timlin, who pitched the ninth.

There were some encouraging signs for the Angels, though. Snow, who started the game with a .208 average and no RBIs, also had an RBI single in the first, and Salmon, who had not reached base in the previous two games, had two hits and drove a seventh-inning ball to the wall in center field.

But while Snow and Salmon appear to be emerging from their slumps, DiSarcina, an all-star in 1995, sank deeper into his. He took a .100 average into the game--”No one likes going up there hitting your wife’s weight,” he said--and a 0-for-3 performance dropped him to .087 (2 for 23).

DiSarcina, who hit .307 last season, took five days off during the last week of spring training to be with his 1 1/2-year-old daughter, Carlee, who had a kidney removed in a Boston hospital.

“Timing is everything in this sport, and when you lose it, it’s not going to come back in one at-bat,” said DiSarcina, who also made an error. “It’s going to take a week or two.”

When DiSarcina struggled in the past, he’d turn to Rod Carew, the only batting instructor he has ever had in the major leagues, the former Hall of Fame infielder “who knows me better than I know myself.”

But Carew is home with his 18-year-old daughter, Michelle, who remains in critical condition at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, fighting a variety of serious complications stemming from her seven-month battle against leukemia.

“You can deny [it’s a factor] as much as you want, but Rod is not here, and that bothers me,” said DiSarcina, whose daughter he is doing fine. “I miss him big-time. But there are more important things for him to be dealing with now than us, and I understand that. Anyone who has sick kids knows how much pain he’s going through.”