Phillips Back, Angels Aren’t

The pall that has been hanging over the Angels the last couple of weeks is threatening to completely envelop them.

Twice Thursday night, they were two or fewer outs from defeat and rallied to tie the Yankees, but they couldn’t muster a third comeback and finally rolled over and accepted a 4-3, 12-inning defeat in front of 27,102 at Anaheim Stadium. It was their sixth loss in seven games.

For awhile, the hard-luck Angels must have felt their fortunes were about to turn. Tony Phillips returned to the lineup and had two hits, three walks and scored twice. Knuckleballer Dennis Springer, working on two days’ rest, turned in another sparkling performance. The Angels, facing the major league saves leader, rallied to tie the score in the ninth inning on a blooper, a looper and a very slow roller.

And a two-out double off the wall by a player they had cut from their 40-man roster last month and then signed to a minor league contract when he went through waivers unclaimed carried them into a 3-3 tie in the 11th inning.

But with two out in the 12th, Yankee catcher Joe Girardi beat out a bunt. Rey Sanchez singled to center with Girardi taking third and then Girardi scored the game-winner when shortstop Gary DiSarcina made a diving stop of Derek Jeter’s grounder to the hole but couldn’t make a play.

“After as many tough games as we’ve had, you start to wonder how many more we can take,” Manager Terry Collins said. “We have to remember that we’re all here battling, we’re all here fighting and no one’s in this alone.”

Trailing, 2-1, going into the ninth against New York closer Mariano Rivera, the Angels manufactured the tying run. Phillips, back in the lineup the day after an arbitrator overruled his suspension by the team, led off with a chip shot that landed in front of shortstop Jeter, who couldn’t come up with the ball in time to get Phillips at first.

Darin Erstad, whose second-inning error allowed the Yankees to score their second run, sheared his bat in half but managed to muscle a fly ball that died at the feet of charging right fielder Paul O’Neill with Phillips racing to third. After Tim Salmon struck out, Dave Hollins cued a roller to second to score Phillips.

Tino Martinez’s 40th home run of the season sailed over the right-field fence in the 11th inning to put the Yankees ahead again, but Hollins doubled to left-center in the bottom of the inning. Chris Turner, who had been released, re-signed and was put on the roster Thursday after Todd Greene broke his wrist, slammed a two-out double off the wall in center to tie the score. Turner was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Craig Grebeck’s single to left.

“When we were winning 10 games in a row, we were getting a lot of two-out base hits, balls were falling, and we found the holes,” Collins said. “Now we’re not. We gave up three runs after we had two outs with no one on.”

Phillips wasted no time regaining his status as offensive spark. He came to the plate amid a mixed response of boos and applause with one out in the first inning and doubled down the right-field line. Moments later, he received only cheers as he crossed the plate after Erstad’s line-drive single to center.

Phillips lined to deep center in the fourth, walked in the sixth, got the infield single in the ninth and walked again in the 10th and 12th innings.

“I thought it was important to get him right back up on the horse,” Collins said. “I thought that was the only way that we, as a team and an organization, can put this behind us. And Tony did what he always does. He got on base and we got him home. I thought he handled everything very well.”

The Angels also wasted yet another fine performance from Springer, a player Collins says is “without question, the most important on the team right now.” It’s not just how well the 32-year-old right-hander throws knucklers--and he has been baffling batters of late--it’s his ability to keep throwing them, inning after inning, even night after night if necessary.

In his last six starts, Springer has thrown two complete games and made it into the eighth inning on three other occasions, providing the Angels with the opportunity to win every time out and saving wear and tear on the bullpen.

New York ace Andy Pettitte, who has more victories (35) over the last two seasons than any pitcher in the American League, would have improved this season’s record to 15-7 if not for the Angels improbable rally in the ninth.

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* PHILLIPS UPDATE: He says he’s embarrassed, regretful about arrest. C12