Angels Can’t Get It Together

It doesn’t matter that their training room is as jammed as a rush-hour subway train, or that the clubhouse ice machine can barely keep up with their ailing appendages.

There is absolutely no excuse, pitcher Chuck Finley said, for this sorry statistic: The Angels, who lost to the Cleveland Indians, 5-0, Saturday at Jacobs Field, have gone three consecutive games without back-to-back hits.

Not home runs. Hits.

“That’s amazing,” said Finley, who pitched almost well enough to win Saturday but had no chance with such measly support. “But I don’t buy that injuries are the reason we’re not playing well. I’m not a hitting coach, but it doesn’t seem like we’re very aggressive.

“You can’t win in this league by sitting back on your heels and waiting for it to happen. You’ve got to make it happen. Guys fall into a trap by thinking, ‘The guy behind me will pick me up.’ Keep doing that, and before you know it you’re on your 26th out.”

Cleveland starter Orel Hershiser (5-4) was struggling with a 6.64 earned-run average before Saturday but found a quick fix in an Angel lineup that was missing four starters--center fielder Jim Edmonds, designated hitter Chili Davis, third baseman Jack Howell and shortstop Gary DiSarcina.

Though he was hardly overpowering, Hershiser breezed through the Angels, giving up four hits in seven innings before reliever Julian Tavarez replaced him to start the eighth.

The Angels have been outscored, 51-13, during their six-game losing streak. They had only eight baserunners Saturday--three in scoring position--and two were wiped out by double plays.

They are batting .216 (41 for 190) in the past six games and they dropped alone into last place in the American League West at 27-32, a record Manager Marcel Lachemann described as “ridiculous,” in light of the Angels’ high expectations.

Finley, who gave up four earned runs on nine hits in six innings, seemed almost dumbfounded afterward. How could the Angels win six of nine during a recent home stand against Boston, New York and Baltimore, then go 0-5 on a trip that has stopped in Minnesota and Cleveland so far?

“Trying to figure out this team,” Finley said, “is like trying to figure out a Rubik’s Cube in the dark.”

Lachemann may shine the light on his farm system in a search for answers. He acknowledged that the Angels are considering a recall of third baseman George Arias, who struggled offensively for the first month of the season in Anaheim but is batting .360 at triple-A Vancouver.

That wouldn’t bode well for third baseman Tim Wallach, who is struggling at the plate (.247) and in the field (five errors in his last 12 games).

Finley (7-4) believes the Angels have enough depth to win despite their injuries, but it’s pretty obvious they’re not as competitive without Edmonds, their best overall hitter, and Davis, their cleanup batter.

“We have the talent, we have guys who know how to play,” Finley said. “But there’s no tempo to our offense. If our team was a golf swing, we wouldn’t even make the cut.”

Finley wasn’t at his best Saturday, either, but other than Manny Ramirez’s second-inning homer, he wasn’t hit very hard. Cleveland scored two in the third on Albert Belle’s bloop RBI single and shortstop Damion Easley’s error, and Finley walked in a run in the fourth. The last run charged to him came on Ramirez’s seventh-inning sacrifice fly.

“Today,” Finley said, “I gave up five runs too many.”