Griffey Leaves Angels in Ruins

He made a face as if he’d been forced to eat spinach. He shrugged. He tugged at his chin. He shook his head.

Seattle center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. had no answers, at least none he could share. Only the results were clear to him.

“Does it look like I’m swinging for the fences?” Griffey asked after hitting two home runs and knocking in five runs in the Seattle Mariners’ 6-2 victory over the Angels on Sunday at Anaheim Stadium.

“I’m not trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark. I’m just trying to make contact.”

Griffey made contact, all right, and the Angels fell with a thud before 22,088.

Yes, the Angels split the four-game series with the Mariners. But playing .500 ball the rest of the season won’t allow them to catch up in the American League West.

The Angels remain in last place, 9 1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers.

Sure, the Detroit Tigers, the major leagues’ worst team, are in town tonight. But it’s only for two games and that is simply not enough time for the Angels to cure what’s ailing them.

Fact is, they lost their way in the West race some time ago.

In hindsight, the Angels were probably lucky to win twice against the second-place Mariners. Griffey certainly did his part, hitting three home runs and driving in 14 runs in the four-game series.

“Junior was the show,” Seattle Manager Lou Piniella said.

Piniella was speaking of Sunday’s performance, but he could have just as easily been talking about the entire series.

Griffey drove in all four runs for Seattle on Saturday, after knocking in one run Friday and four Thursday.

Sunday, Griffey added a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run shot in the fifth--both off Angel starter Jim Abbott (1-13).

Brian Hunter’s bases-empty homer in the eighth spoiled Ken Griffey Weekend. Griffey had knocked in nine consecutive runs for Seattle until Hunter ended the streak with a homer off rookie reliever Jeff Schmidt.

“I don’t know. . . ,” Griffey said, trying to get a handle on his recent success against the Angels. “Guys have been on base. I’ve been fortunate enough to hit the ball someplace where they ain’t at.”

Namely, the right-field seats.

“I can’t go up there with nine men on base all the time,” said Griffey, who missed 20 games because of a broken bone in his right hand and was activated from the disabled list July 14.

Against the Angels that seemed like a routine occurrence, however.

The Angels’ beleaguered staff has given up 40 home runs in the last 22 games. Plus, their starters have a 9.17 earned-run average in the last 10 games.

Abbott, who leads the majors with 13 losses, suffered his ninth consecutive defeat and fell to 4-13 lifetime against Seattle. He could have used a little help at the plate.

The Angels loaded the bases with one out in the third, but couldn’t score. Rookie third baseman George Arias was perhaps the lone bright spot, going three for four with two RBIs for the second consecutive game.

Other than the home-run balls he threw Griffey, Abbott didn’t pitch that poorly. But once again, the results were sadly lacking.

“He pitched better, but it’s still not what we’d like,” Manager Marcel Lachemann said of Abbott’s second start since returning from a three-game demotion to the bullpen. “He still goes through spurts where he can’t throw a strike.”

Said Griffey: “He threw pitches I could drive. He made some good pitches to me. He just made a couple of mistakes.”

Griffey, in eight games since returning to the lineup, is batting .364 (12 for 33) with four homers and 18 RBIs.