Angels Lose Despite Look of a Winner

The Angels are so loose and playing so well these days, they have managed what was unimaginable a couple of weeks ago. They’ve become one of those teams that looks good even when it loses.

The Angels shut out the Orioles twice in three days during a weekend series in Baltimore and were a hit shy of a sweep.

Monday night, knuckleballer Tim Wakefield had the Angel hitters flailing during a 4-1 Boston victory in front of 16,886 at Anaheim Stadium, but the Angels got another decent pitching performance from rookie Jason Dickson and they put on a dazzling display when they put on their gloves.

Four Angels combined to make six sizzling defensive plays; catchers Todd Greene and Jorge Fabregas threw out the two Red Sox baserunners who attempted to steal; Dickson allowed four runs in the first three innings, but shut out the Red Sox over the next five, and reliever Mike James gave up just one hit in two innings.

“We had all the other ingredients, but we just couldn’t sustain anything offensively against Wakefield,” interim Manager Joe Maddon said.

Wakefield, who began the season 4-9, went the distance, giving up six hits--one a solo homer by Jim Edmonds--to pick up his seventh victory in his last nine decisions.

“We only called a few fastballs and a couple of curves,” Boston catcher Bob Stanley said. “When his ball is dancing like that there’s no reason to go to anything else.”

Still, the Angels might have won the award for choreography on this night. Maddon said one of the first things he did when he took over for John McNamara, who was hospitalized Wednesday because of a blood clot, was to “encourage them to make any physical mistakes they want to.”

“I think players make less mistakes that way,” he said. “If you’re playing free and easy, I think your natural talent will surface.”

The Angels’ defensive skills have remained underground most of the season. They rank 10th in the American League in fielding, but they were serving up heaping doses of the sparkling and spectacular on this night.

Rex Hudler set the tone when the first batter of the game, Darren Bragg, hit a shot up the middle. Hudler ran it down on the left-field side of second base, leaped and fired a strike to first for the out.

Center fielder Edmonds one-upped Hudler a few seconds later when the second batter, Jeff Frye, blooped one to right-center field. Edmonds sprinted. He dove. He slid on his belly. And then he caught the ball.

Also on the highlight reel:

--Third baseman Randy Velarde sprinted to his left, snagged Reggie Jefferson’s hard grounder and spun 360 degrees to throw him out.

--Shortstop Gary DiSarcina dove behind second base to gobble up a smash off the bat of Tim Naehring, popped up to one knee and bounced a throw to first for the out.

--DiSarcina did the splits fielding a ball in the same spot and flipped the ball to Hudler for a force out at second. Hudler’s relay to first was a split-second short of a double play.

--Then Velarde out-did himself, diving to his left to grab a line drive by John Valentin that was already past him when it stuck in his glove.

But the defense wasn’t the only positive. Dickson, who gave up a homer on his first major league pitch but settled down to earn a 7-1 victory over the Yankees on Wednesday, had his mettle tested again.

Mo Vaughn hit a monster homer to right leading off the second and two outs later, Troy O’Leary mashed a solo shot over the center-field fence. Bragg walked and Frye singled with no outs in the third and both came around to score. Dickson was down, but clearly not out.

“He didn’t cave in and he gave us a chance to win,” Maddon said.

Dickson said his disappointment was tempered by his ability to persevere.

“You can’t leave the ball up like that and expect to win,” he said, “but after they scored the four runs, I think I proved I can pitch and proved that even if you get to me early, I’m not going to give in.”