Angels Do Everything Wrong, Lose

The Angels’ effort and performance in Sunday’s 10-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox mirrored the gloomy weather in Comiskey Park: dreadful, uninspiring, bleak.

It began with what pitcher Chuck Finley called a “minor-league” outing and ended with Jim Edmonds, the Angels’ top batter, looking at a called third strike, and just about everything in between kept Manager Marcel Lachemann steaming despite the chilly temperatures.

“We just did nothing very well today from the first inning on,” Lachemann said. “We didn’t pitch well, we didn’t hit well, we didn’t play defense well. . . . It was a very poor outing by the whole ballclub. I don’t think we competed nearly as well today as we usually do.”

It seemed fitting the Angels fell into last place in the American League West Sunday after suffering their third consecutive loss, because they looked like a last-place team against the White Sox.

Bad pitching? Finley, the ace of the staff, gave up more runs (six) than hits (four) and had four walks and only one strikeout. He threw two wild pitches, only 31 of his 71 pitches were strikes, and he lasted 2 1/3 innings. When he was through self-destructing, Finley’s earned-run average was 7.44.

“That’s the worst command-wise I’ve felt in five years,” Finley (3-2) said. “You can’t put your team in a hole like that. It kind of deflates you and sets the tone for the whole game.”

Bad hitting? After scoring on Rex Hudler’s double and Chili Davis’ RBI single in the first, the Angels loaded the bases with one out against White Sox rookie James Baldwin, who entered with all of one career major league victory.

But Garret Anderson struck out swinging at a shoulder-high fastball, then George Arias struck out. The Angels also loaded the bases with one out in the eighth off Brian Keyser, but Anderson flied to shallow left and pinch-hitter Jack Howell grounded to second.

“We had a chance to blow that guy away in the first inning,” Lachemann said. “But we let him off the hook.”

Bad defense? Finley aided Chicago’s four-run second inning when he fielded Ray Durham’s topper and threw into right field, allowing a run to score.

And reliever Mark Holzemer’s throwing error on an attempted double play in the eighth opened the door for Frank Thomas to hit a three-run home run off Mark Eichhorn. “It seemed nothing was going to go our way today,” said shortstop Gary DiSarcina, whose average slipped to .192 after going 0 for 4. “It was like we were stuck in neutral the whole game.”

The Angel offense--virtually the same one that tore up the league for much of 1995--is still looking to get out of first gear. Edmonds and Davis are having productive seasons, but right fielder Tim Salmon is off to a sluggish start--at least by his standards--with a .273 average and 10 RBIs.

And J.T. Snow, Anderson and Arias, the Angels’ fifth, sixth and seventh batters, have combined for two home runs and 16 RBIs, three fewer RBIs than Edmonds (21).

Snow, who hit .289 with 24 homers and 102 RBIs in 1995, is batting .244, and Anderson, who hit .321 with 16 homers and 69 RBIs in only 106 games last season, is batting .267. Arias, who made the jump from double-A to the major leagues, has been outstanding defensively but is batting .203.