On the Bright Side, Angels Don’t Suffer

Sometimes these blowouts can be deceiving. Take the Angels’ 11-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians in front of 42,244 at Jacobs Field Thursday night. You may need the Hubble Telescope to find them, but there actually were a few silver linings for the Angels.

First off, unlike their last three nights at Jacobs Field, the Angels did not wring their hands or fret over a costly error, a key managerial decision or a fluke play that wound up being the difference in a close loss.

There was no dramatic ninth-inning homer off closer Troy Percival, like the one that turned what appeared to be an automatic Angel victory Tuesday into a gut-wrenching defeat.

No, there was no Angel angst Thursday night. The Indians made sure of that by smoking Angel pitchers Shawn Boskie and Greg Gohr--rhymes with gore--for five home runs, taking an early lead, extending it in the middle innings and blowing the Angels out with back-to-back-to-back homers in the seventh.

“There’s nothing to over-analyze,” said Joe Maddon, whose tenure as interim manager ends with today’s return of John McNamara. “You stop and pick apart those close games--what could we have done differently?--but tonight, they just took it and ran with it.”

Another bright side for the Angels: Jim Thome is someone else’s problem now. The Indian third baseman hit two-run homers in the first and seventh innings Thursday, closing out his 12-game 1996 barrage of the Angels with a .367 average (18 for 49), six homers and 16 RBIs.

A platoon player last season, Thome is batting .322 with 35 homers and 106 RBIs in a full-time role, equaling Vic Wertz’s team record for RBIs by an Indian left-handed batter, set in 1956.

“That guy likes to see us come to town,” Maddon said. “I think he’s the most-feared offensive third baseman in the league. He loves to play and produces in tight situations.”

Boskie, who gave up five earned runs on six hits in five innings to fall to 12-10, is producing too many tight situations for himself.

The right-hander had been the Angels’ most consistent and effective starter for most of the season but is 0-4 with a 10.80 earned-run average in his last four starts.

Though the Angels are closer to the lowly Detroit Tigers than they are to a pennant race, Boskie has put pressure on himself in what should be non-pressure starts. Why? He wants badly to fulfill his goal of being a consistent contributor for an entire season, something he has not accomplished in his six-year big league career.

His biggest problem: The month of September, when Boskie has a career 2-15 record and 8.48 ERA.

“September is the main focus for me, and if anything, I’m trying too hard and that’s taking me out of my game,” Boskie said. “I’m so gung-ho I’m muscling up, overthrowing, and not getting in a good rhythm. It’s frustrating, because this is the time of year that leaves the final impression on the team.”

Boskie gave up three runs in the first, Garret Anderson’s fielding error led to an unearned run in the third and Kevin Seitzer’s two-out, two-run single in the fourth gave Cleveland a 6-2 lead. Thome, Albert Belle and Julio Franco hit consecutive homers off Gohr to highlight a four-run seventh.

Ex-Angel Brian Anderson, pitching on three days’ rest, gave up two runs on four hits in five innings to earn the victory, and Maddon’s three-week stint as interim manager ended with a loss.

But there is a bright side for Maddon: He can always say he went out with a bang.