McNamara Is Angry Viewer

John McNamara has felt a bit claustrophobic during the past two games, but he says managing via walkie-talkie from his Angel clubhouse office does have its advantages.

“The thing about watching the game on television, especially with this club,” he said, “is you can get up and go to another room.”

A strained calf muscle immobilized McNamara Sunday night, but if he couldn’t scramble out of his office during the sixth inning of Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians, when his staff ace pitched like a timid rookie, McNamara probably felt like tossing one of his crutches at the TV screen.

And if he couldn’t run for cover in the eighth inning, when Cleveland’s lead-gloved left-fielder Albert Belle robbed Chili Davis of a three-run home run, McNamara probably felt like hurling his remote control at the set.

So it went for the Angels, who lost for the 12th time in the past 14 games are 13 1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers.

They won Sunday for the first time in a week and had their best starter on the mound Monday night, but any pitching momentum the Angels might have had dissipated in the sixth.

Chuck Finley, the leader of an ailing staff, was ahead, 0-2, on the count to .227-hitting Jeff Kent with runners on first and second, two outs, and the Angels trailing, 3-1.

But Finley tried to nibble the strike zone with breaking pitches, two of which bounced in the dirt, and instead delivered four consecutive balls to walk Kent.

He then fell behind, 3-0, on the count to catcher Sandy Alomar, who had managed only 13 hits in his previous 81 at-bats (.160) since July 3, and grooved two pitches, the second of which Alomar deposited into the left-field corner for a two-run double that, as it turned out, put the game out of reach.

The Angels rallied in the eighth, taking advantage of a rare lapse in control for Cleveland starter Orel Hershiser, who walked Randy Velarde and Gary DiSarcina to open the inning.

Davis, facing reliever Paul Assenmacher, then drilled a ball over Belle’s head, but Belle, not known as a Gold Glove outfielder, went back to the 370-foot mark and leaped over the wall to make a highlight-reel catch.

Jim Edmonds doubled to right for one run, cutting the deficit to 5-2 and bringing Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove to the mound, where he replaced Assenmacher with right-hander Paul Shuey.

Shuey walked Tim Salmon to load the bases and then delivered a wild pitch, allowing DiSarcina to score to make it 5-3 and Edmonds and Salmon to advance to second and third, respectively.

Edmonds scored on J.T. Snow’s groundout to first baseman Mark Carreon to make it 5-4, but Garret Anderson followed with an inning-ending groundout to first.

Jose Mesa then retired the Angels in order in the ninth for his 29th save, and Hershiser, who gave up only five hits in seven innings, improved to 12-7 with the victory.

The Angels scored in the first inning when Velarde led off with a single, stole second and took third on DiSarcina’s grounder to the right side, which resulted in Carreon’s error.

Davis grounded into a 1-6-3 double play, but Velarde broke for home when Hershiser threw to second and scored easily.

The Indians scored three in the third inning, a rally Belle capped with a two-run single to push his American League-leading RBI total to 110.