Angels Can’t Catch Break With Hoiles in Lineup

The first three batters in Baltimore’s lineup posed no problems for Angel pitcher Jack McDowell Tuesday night. The right-hander dispatched Roberto Alomar, B.J. Surhoff and Harold Baines with relative ease, the trio combining to go 0 for 12 against McDowell.

That pesky No. 8 hitter was another story, though. And for McDowell, it turned out to be the same old story.

Oriole catcher Chris Hoiles, who has a history of hitting McDowell well, smacked a two-run double in the second inning and a bases-empty homer in the sixth to lead the Orioles to an 8-3 victory before 20,968 in Edison Field.

What little momentum the Angels gathered with Monday night’s victory over Baltimore dissipated when Hoiles broke a 3-3 tie with his homer and the Orioles tacked on four runs in the ninth on two-run doubles by Baines (off Mike Holtz) and Rafael Palmeiro (off Omar Olivares).

Hoiles improved his average against McDowell to .395 (17 for 43) with three homers, and his outburst took all of the sting out of Cecil Fielder’s first home run as an Angel.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes to him, and it seems like I have to give him a good pitch to hit every time,” McDowell said of Hoiles, who has nine RBIs in his last six games. “And whenever I do, he makes me pay for it.”

Hoiles, who has been sharing the catching job with Lenny Webster, led a 14-hit attack that included seven doubles. Four Oriole relievers--Arthur Rhodes, Alan Mills, Norm Charlton and Armando Benitez--combined to blank the Angels over the last 4 1/3 innings.

“You’re not going to shut them down very often--they have a great lineup,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said of the Orioles. “Every time I looked up they hit another double.”

For the first time this season, Collins was able to look up and see Fielder trot around the bases, a fourth-inning scene that provided some hope for the struggling designated hitter.

Collins moved Fielder into the cleanup spot Monday, and the Orioles showed him virtually no respect, walking No. 3 batter Tim Salmon four times to pitch to Fielder, who obliged Baltimore with four outs.

Fielder had just five hits in his last 51 at-bats (.098) entering Tuesday’s game, but Collins penciled Fielder’s name back into the fourth spot.

“If they want to walk Salmon to get to Cecil, let them,” Collins said, defending his decision. “Someone’s going to make a mistake soon, and Cecil is going to be ready for it.”

He didn’t seem to be in the first inning, when he came up with one out and runners on first and third and grounded into a double play. But Fielder led off the fourth with a towering, 422-foot home run to left-center.

“Hopefully that will take a little pressure off him and everyone around him,” Collins said. “That seems to be the topic of conversation around here. He’ll be fine.”

The homer trimmed the Oriole lead to 3-1, and the Angels pulled even in the fifth on Salmon’s two-run single. Fielder had another shot with runners on first and second and one out but struck out looking.

Garret Anderson struck out to end the inning, and the Angels failed to score again despite putting a runner on second with one out in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. They went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

McDowell wasn’t real sharp; he have up four runs on 10 hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out six.

But he saved his best pitches for the tight spots, pitching out of a two-on, two-out jam in the third, a second- and-third, one-out jam in the fourth and a first-and-third, one-out jam in the sixth.