BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DiSarcina Decries Team’s Inconsistency

With each passing losing streak, the questions arise: How does this one rank with the megaslide of 1995? And what do the Angels need to do to break out of their latest slump?

Shortstop Gary DiSarcina fielded the latest round of queries.

“The difference I see is that last year when we went through the rut, we wouldn’t reel off six or seven runs,” DiSarcina said. “We’ve been inconsistent all year this year. The only similarity is guys seem to be pressing, trying to do everything themselves.”

Starting a 22-game stretch against American League West opponents Thursday might have started the Angels on their way to their latest funk, he said.

“We started thinking, ‘We’ve got to do well now,’ ” DiSarcina said. “And when things don’t go well, things can go haywire. We’ve just hit the halfway point. We’ve got a lot of games ahead of us and a lot of time to do it [catch first-place Texas].

“We saw what can happen last year. It was the middle of August, we had the lead and it still wasn’t late enough. The biggest thing is to be consistent and not ride the waves up and down.”

DiSarcina committed his ninth error in 74 games, booting a seventh-inning grounder that enabled Geronimo Berroa to score Oakland’s eighth run. DiSarcina had only six errors in 98 games last season.

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Manager Marcel Lachemann offered this view of Jim Abbott’s first relief appearance in the major leagues:

“He looked a little better. Jimmy will be back as a starter and he’ll be back winning games. How long it’s going to take I don’t know.”

Abbott pitched a scoreless ninth, walking one in the Angels’ 6-3 loss to Oakland Friday.

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Randy Velarde extended his hitting streak to a career-best 16 games with an infield single and a run-scoring double. . . . Pat Borders homered twice in a game for the first time in a nine-year career spanning 837 major league games. He also homered for the first time since June 13, 1995, as a member of the Kansas City Royals.