It’s Up to the Batters Now for the Angels

No one counted on the Angels pitching their way Atlanta-style into the postseason this year and, after a plague of injuries swept through their staff in recent weeks, their playoff hopes are resting even more heavily on the offense.

Clearly, it’s a bad time for a batting slump.

Veteran left-hander Mark Langston joined veteran left-hander Chuck Finley on the done-for-the-season list Monday afternoon and a little while later--in a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies--veteran left-hander Allen Watson proved again he can’t carry the Angels to a division title all by himself, no matter how hard he tries.

Watson rallied after a two-run homer by Harvey Pulliam in the second inning, shook off the effects of an Ellis Burks’ line drive that landed squarely against his right foot in the fifth and battled to hold baseball’s most prolific run-scoring team to four runs.

But the Angels fell two games behind Seattle in the race for the American League West title after the loss in front of 19,614 at Anaheim Stadium.

The Rockies, who lead the majors with 780 runs, have won seven in a row. The Angels, who have averaged only 3.2 runs over the last five games, have dropped eight of 13.

If this is a race, the Angels are playing the part of the tortoise. Players like to say the baseball season is more of a marathon than a sprint. If that’s the case, the Angels may have hit the wall while there’s still a couple of miles left before the finish.

Some of the Angels have mentioned fatigue as a possible factor in the recent spin, but Tony Phillips isn’t buying into any excuses.

“If you’re not tired this time of year, where have you been all year?” Phillips said. “You have to go out there expecting to win and play the game aggressively, the way it’s meant to be played. We didn’t do that tonight.”

Manager Terry Collins agreed that it’s time for the Angels to reach down and find a way to “rekindle some energy.”

“We have 20-some games to go,” he said, “and we have to have that energy for the last three weeks.”

They won’t have Langston, who had hoped to return to the team this week but decided he would throw no more this season after he was unable to get loose to pitch a simulated game. “If I can’t even play catch, I think competing is out of the question,” Langston said.

It was just another bit of bad news and Watson--who acknowledged he felt the pressure to pick up the slack after Finley suffered a broken wrist--fought the good fight for 6 1/3 innings, scattering 10 hits while striking out four and walking only one.

“He held them down, did a good job against a great offensive team,” Collins said. “We just didn’t help him.”

Colorado starter John Thomson was even more impressive, however. He went eight innings, gave up nine hits and struck out four.

Thomson was recalled from the minors May 9 and has been on a rollercoaster ride in the last month. In his last eight starts, he has given up only eight earned runs in 39 innings of his five victories. But he’s given up 13 earned runs in only 17 2/3 innings of two losses and one no decision.

The Angels had at least one hit in every inning except the seventh, but the right-hander got the big outs when he needed them and the only Angel to cross the plate was their first batter of the game.

Rickey Henderson walked, stole second and scored on Darin Erstad’s double to left in the first inning, but the Angels’ lead was short-lived.

Andres Galarraga launched a low rocket that sailed directly over the head of left-fielder Garret Anderson and caromed off the wall for a double. Vinny Castilla extended his hitting streak to 22 in a row and tied the score with a run-scoring single to center. And then Pulliam smashed a 393-foot, two-run homer to left-center to put the Rockies ahead, 3-1.

It was Colorado’s National League-leading 200th homer of the year.