Fielder Can’t and Angels Pay the Price

The name on the back of his uniform did not accurately reflect his actions on the field Friday night. Cecil Fielder, he wasn’t.

The Angel first baseman, who had started 40 games in the infield without committing an error, made two costly miscues against Texas on Friday night, paving the way for four unearned runs in the Rangers’ 7-3 victory over the Angels before 38,866 in Edison Field.

Texas designated hitter Juan Gonzalez, limited to one RBI in four games against the Angels last weekend, broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run double in the seventh inning and added a two-run homer in the ninth for his fifth five-RBI game of the season, pushing his major league-leading RBI total to 86.

Ranger right-hander Rick Helling, who beat the Angels Sunday in Texas, gave up three runs on nine hits in seven innings to improve to 10-3 and join teammate Aaron Sele and Atlanta’s Greg Maddux as baseball’s only 10-game winners.

And Texas second baseman Luis Alicea, who would have re-signed with the Angels this season had they offered a second guaranteed year on his contract, added two hits, including a solo homer in the fifth inning, off Angel starter and loser Chuck Finley, who fell to 7-14 lifetime against the Rangers.

The Rangers pulled to within half a game of the first-place Angels in the American League West with two games remaining in the series.

Angel Manager Terry Collins was hardly stunned by Gonzalez’s performance.

“There might be a couple of guys in this league who are as strong,” he said, “but I don’t know if there’s any better clutch hitter, that’s for sure.”

But Fielder’s performance was a shocker.

“It shows you we’re playing with humans who, once in a while, are not going to catch the ball,” Collins said. “This guy has as good hands as anyone at first base, but he didn’t have a good night. I’m as surprised as anyone by it.”

Fielder made three excellent defensive plays in the past two nights against Seattle, diving to his right to snag Joey Cora’s grounder and leaping to grab Alex Rodriguez’s liner to start a double play Thursday; and sprawling face-first into the dirt to catch shortstop Gary DiSarcina’s wide relay throw and complete a key double play Wednesday.

The plays served as reminders that looks--especially of the 275-pound variety--can be deceiving.

“People forget I can play first base,” said Fielder, who signed as a designated hitter but was pressed into first-base duty because of Tim Salmon’s foot injury. “It has to do with my size. People say I’m not that agile, but if the ball is near my glove, I’ll catch it. I’m not going to hurt you on defense.”

Those words were spoken before Friday’s game--and perhaps too soon. In his 41st start at first Friday night, Fielder committed his first error, misplaying Ranger catcher Ivan Rodriguez’s grounder in the fourth inning.

Ranger shortstop Kevin Elster’s two-out RBI single scored Gonzalez with an unearned run that tied the score, 1-1.

Error No. 2 came in the seventh, and that one caused even more damage. Alicea’s grounder squirted under Fielder’s glove, allowing the Rangers to put runners on first and second, and, after Finley whiffed Roberto Kelly for the second out, he walked Rusty Greer to load the bases.

Up stepped Gonzalez, and Finley jumped ahead of the count, 1-and-2, with a split-finger fastball and a fastball on the inside. He then went outside with a fastball, but Gonzalez reached out and punched it into the gap in right-center for a 5-2 lead.

“That might of been a good pitch to eight other guys in that lineup, but to him it wasn’t,” Finley (7-4) said. “I threw it where I wanted, and it was almost like he was waiting on it. I thought it would be a ground ball to second base, but he’s so big and strong he was able to lift it.”

Jim Edmonds homered to lead off the eighth inning, his third homer off Helling in 15 at-bats, to pull the Angels to 5-3, but reliever Danny Patterson got Garret Anderson to hit into a double play to end the inning. Closer John Wetteland threw a scoreless ninth.

The Angels scored in the second on Justin Baughman’s sacrifice fly and in the sixth on Matt Walbeck’s RBI single, but they couldn’t overcome Fielder’s errors.

“It’s not the first time that’s happened, and it won’t be the last,” Fielder said. “It’s part of the game.”