Boskie’s Month Is Nothing New

He swore it wouldn’t happen again, vowed to take measures to prevent it, but in the end, he had no defense for it. Once again, the month of September chewed up pitcher Shawn Boskie and spit him out.

Boskie, a non-roster invitee to spring training, developed into one of the Angels’ most consistent pitchers and carried a 12-7 record and 4.93 earned-run average into the final month.

But Boskie went 0-4 with a 7.54 ERA in five September starts to finish 12-11 with a 5.32 ERA. That also lowered his career September record to 2-15 with a 7.69 ERA.

“It’s like when you’re shooting a good round of golf and you make a couple double bogeys,” Boskie said. “You’re thinking, ‘If I could just par this next hole,’ and everything falls apart. Instead of concentrating on one game, I kept thinking, ‘I have to win three of the next four.’ ”

Despite his September stumble, Boskie, who is eligible to become a free agent but hopes to re-sign with the Angels, was satisfied with the season. He threw a career-high 189 1/3 innings and had 133 strikeouts, more than double his previous high.

“If you’re not disappointed in a last month like that, you’d have to have yourself checked,” Boskie said. “But at the same time, I’m going to try not to let the last month overshadow some of the positive things that happened.”

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Tim Salmon’s fifth-inning home run Friday was his 30th, making him the first Angel in club history to hit 30 or more home runs in three different seasons . . . . Rusty Greer’s sacrifice fly in the third was his 100th run batted in, marking the first time in club history the Rangers have had three players (Juan Gonzalez and Dean Palmer are the others) with at least 100 RBIs in the same season.