As Disasters Mount, the Angels Find Another Way to Crumble

And the tour de farce continues. Just how will the Angels top themselves today?

Based on the last three games, it figures to be as formidable a task as rejoining the American League West race after the All-Star break.

The Angels walked home the winning run in the 10th inning to lose to the Oakland Athletics, 6-5, Saturday before 14,294 at the Oakland Coliseum.

Friday, the Angels were pummeled, 16-8, after giving up a club record-tying 13 runs in the first inning.

Thursday, they lost, 8-7, on an 11th-inning home run.

Today, the Angels find themselves in last place, three games below .500 and 8 1/2 games behind the first-place Texas Rangers.

Listening to the game on the radio at home, new Angel President Tony Tavares seethed. He said he plans to meet with General Manager Bill Bavasi during the All-Star break to discuss what’s happened to a club many believed would win the division title.

They also will discuss ways to make the Angels better, which could include trades and roster moves.

“Obviously, we’re not getting the performances out of people we are expecting to perform,” Tavares said. “I believe in accountability.”

And what has been his reaction to the Angels’ recent run of belly flops?

“I don’t even know how to respond,” Tavares said. “You know how competitive I am. You obviously know how unhappy I am.”

The mood in the Angel clubhouse was far from giddy. Manager Marcel Lachemann, as has become his custom occasionally, took full blame for the loss, the Angels’ fourth in a row and 12th in the last 16 games.

“What did us in today was the manager,” Lachemann said. “The manager screwed it up so many ways today. They [the players] busted their butts today. They deserved a better job of managing out of me.”

Lachemann said his biggest mistake was keeping reliever Mike James in the game too long. James, who pitched a career-high 3 1/3 innings, tired after getting the first two outs in the 10th.

He then gave up a single to Ernie Young, walked Mike Bordick on five pitches and walked Damon Mashore on four. His first two pitches to Rafael Bournigal also missed the mark.

Finally, Lachemann summoned Chuck McElroy, who threw two pitches and finished the Bournigal walk that forced in the game-winning run.

“It was not Mike James’ fault,” Lachemann said. “I screwed that up. I tried to get too much out of him. He feels bad, but it’s not his fault. It’s my fault. I pushed him too far.”

James’ final nine pitches were balls. Bournigal said he was taking all the way during his final at-bat. There was no sense swinging until James proved he had another strike in him.

“I don’t accept him taking any blame,” James said of Lachemann. “If I’m capable of staying out there to throw, I think, personally, I should be able to get the last out. If I got the last out, I would have wanted to get the next one [in the 11th inning].

“If I’m able to throw the ball, I should be able to throw strikes.”

Closer Troy Percival would have been available under normal circumstances, but he pitched a career-high 2 2/3 innings Thursday. Lachemann said he would have used Percival only if the Angels had the lead.

Instead, McElroy was left to pick up the mess. It wasn’t the first time he has been in such a situation. Last season, as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, he entered a game with the bases loaded and a 3-and-0 count on the batter.

“I got it to 3-and-2, but walked him,” McElroy said. “The idea is you’re trying so hard to get at least one strike, you force yourself to make a pitch and it’s hard to relax. Throwing two or three strikes in a row is tough for anybody.

“But you should be able to throw strikes. You should at least be able to throw Strike One.”

The Angels rallied from a 4-1 deficit with a four-run seventh, but lost the lead on Scott Brosius’ run-scoring sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning.

The Angels had runners on first and third with two outs and couldn’t score when Garret Anderson flied out to end the ninth. They loaded the bases in the 10th, but Gary DiSarcina fouled out to end that threat.