No Shame in This Loss

There’s something happening here. What it is, is exactly clear: An Angel team whose credentials have been questioned all season appears to be coming of age, maturing into a group that seems capable of doing some damage in October, should it reach October.

Yes, the Angels suffered a heartbreaking, 6-5, 11-inning loss to the New York Yankees on Thursday night when center fielder Jim Edmonds came up just short in his attempt to catch Bernie Williams’ game-winning RBI double before crashing into the wall.

But the Angels, who went toe to toe with the Yankees for 4 hours, 26 minutes, left New York having won three of five games in a grueling series against baseball’s best team, erasing a four-run deficit Wednesday night and a three-run deficit Thursday night, both one-run losses.

The Angels claimed they were not out to make any kind of statement this week, but their play spoke loud and clear--they can compete with the American League’s best teams if they play with the kind of intensity and emotion that carried them through this series, even if few others think they can.

“You can rest assured we are not going away,” Manager Terry Collins said after the Angels’ lead over Texas was reduced to 2 1/2 games. “The Yankees are an outstanding team, and I would sure like the chance to play them in October.

“On any given night, we can play with anyone in baseball. We have a good team, and we showed that this series. Emotions were high, but the hardest part is when you win the first three games and have a chance to win the next two but don’t.”

The Angels came up short Thursday night because six pitchers combined to walk nine batters, five by starter Chuck Finley, and their usually sound defense suffered two breakdowns--throwing errors by pitcher Pep Harris in the seventh and first baseman Darin Erstad in the eighth both aided Yankee one-run rallies.

“We do a couple things right,” Collins said, “and we have a chance to win another one.”

But there was plenty they did right, such as when they capitalized on a rare trifecta by Yankee starter David Cone--three walks in a row--with Tim Salmon’s sacrifice fly and Edmonds’ two-run double in the sixth, turning a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead.

And when they wiped out a 5-4 deficit in the top of the ninth when Matt Walbeck singled off the right-field wall, Gary DiSarcina bunted pinch-runner Reggie Williams to second, and Orlando Palmeiro lined a 1-2 Ramiro Mendoza pitch into center for an RBI single.

Harris snuffed out a Yankee threat in the sixth, striking out Tino Martinez with runners on first and second and no out, getting Joe Girardi to ground into a fielder’s choice and striking out Homer Bush. Harris threw 11 pitches in the inning, 10 of them strikes.

The Angels gave the Yankees everything they could handle this week, and in the process may have validated their status as pennant contenders.

“We have some pretty good players who play hard,” Collins said. “We don’t have a lot of stars because we’re still trying to establish something, to get to the promised land where [the Yankees] have been so many times. We’re not a household name. Heck, we even changed our name.

“Everyone says, ‘How are are you doing it? Who are you winning with?’ We know who they are.”

There are names many have never heard of, such as Palmeiro and Williams and Steve Sparks and Shigetoshi Hasegawa, and there are the more established names such as Erstad, Salmon, DiSarcina, Finley, Troy Percival, Garret Anderson and Edmonds, who came within inches of extending Thursday night’s marathon.

Derek Jeter opened the 11th with a walk off Mike Fetters and took second on Tim Raines’ hit-and-run groundout. Collins considered intentionally walking Williams, the league’s leading hitter, but chose to attack Williams with Fetters’ forkball, walk Paul O’Neill and then go after Chad Curtis.

But the Angels never got to O’Neill because Williams ripped a drive over Edmonds’ head for the game-winner.

“It just sliced away from me a little more than I expected,” said Edmonds, who re-injured his upper back in the collision. “I did the best I could and came up short. That’s the way it goes.”

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BY THE NUMBERS / YANKEES VS. ANGELS

The Angels are the only team to have a winning record against the Yankees this season, and it’s easy to see why when looking at the numbers. A look at how the Yankees perform against the Angels compared to the rest of the American League: *--*

Category vs. AL vs. Angels Record 91-30 5-6 Average .290 .263 Runs* 6.2 4.7 HR* 1.3 1.0 OB% .372 .351 SLG% .466 .406 ERA 3.76 5.27

*--*

* Per Game

ANGELS VS. CONTENDERS

The Angels’ record against the other leading playoff contenders:

Boston: 4-4

Cleveland: 3-6

Texas: 5-2

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HE’S BACK: The Angels hope for a shot in the arm tonight when Ken Hill makes his first start since June 15 elbow surgery. C12