Still No Relief for Dodgers

The Dodgers’ turbulent ride on Flight 1998 to--well, no one is quite sure where this one is going to land--continued Tuesday night, while the Angels remained free to roam about the cabin, enjoying another smooth evening above the American League West.

In another game that typified the direction these teams are heading, the Angels twice erased deficits en route to a 6-4 interleague victory over the Dodgers before a sellout crowd of 43,719 in Edison Field.

Cecil Fielder keyed a three-run seventh inning with a two-run single, leading the Angels to their 21st come-from-behind victory of the season and their 11th in June, a month that was preceded by a 6-5 victory over Minnesota on May 31, in which the Angels erased a five-run deficit.

“There’s no way to explain how important it is to come back and win big ballgames,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said, “because as the game goes along, they know what it takes and how to approach it.

“There are a lot of times when you’re down in the seventh, and someone on the bench says, ‘OK, it’s our time.’ It may only take one game like that day in Minnesota. They really believe they can come back and win a game late.”

No wonder the Angels are so confident: They are 19-3 this month, and things seem to breaking their way, as they did again Tuesday night, when their biggest hit, Fielder’s seventh-inning, bases-loaded single, somehow squeezed through the left side of the infield.

And when Justin Baughman’s drag bunt to lead off the eighth went over first baseman Eric Karros’ head for a single, and Darin Erstad’s flare to center, with Baughman attempting to steal third and leaving himself vulnerable for a double play, dropped in front of Raul Mondesi for an RBI single and an insurance run.

And when three relievers not named Troy Percival--Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Greg Cadaret and Rich DeLucia, combined for two scoreless innings, DeLucia striking out Charles Johnson with a runner on second to end the game for his second save.

“When things are going good, they’re going good,” said Erstad, who had three hits to increase his league-leading total to 104. “We know that we’re going to be in the ballgame, and we know at some point we’re going to get some runs.”

And then there was the Dodgers, whose starting pitcher was knocked out by one of his own teammates, whose bullpen self-destructed for the second game in a row, and whose infield committed two fourth-inning errors, paving the way for two Angel unearned runs.

Dodger right-hander Dave Mlicki pitched six strong innings, giving up two runs--both unearned--on six hits, but had to leave at the start of the seventh, done in by Dodger second baseman Wilton Guerrero.

Erstad led off the Angel fifth with a chopper to second, where Guerrero, charging toward first, gloved the ball but couldn’t make a play. Guerrero’s momentum carried him right into Mlicki, who was moving toward first to cover, and the collision gave Mlicki a contusion on his left jaw, an injury that worsened in the seventh.

Hoffman summoned left-hander Will Brunson, who was recalled from triple-A Albuquerque Saturday and pitched as if he had a non-refundable return ticket.

Gary DiSarcina reached on a dribbler between the mound and third, the fourth Angel infield hit, and Brunson walked Dave Hollins and Jim Edmonds with one out to load the bases.

Hoffman, showing he is persistent, and perhaps a bit stubborn, pulled Brunson for Jim Bruske, whose bases-loaded walk to Tim Salmon in the bottom of the ninth gave the Angels a 6-5 victory Monday night.

The good news for the Dodgers: Bruske didn’t walk Fielder. The bad news: Fielder chopped a grounder to the shortstop hole that nicked third baseman Juan Castro’s glove, went past shortstop Alex Cora and into left field for a two-run single and a 4-3 Angel lead.

Garret Anderson popped to short, but Matt Walbeck drilled an RBI single to right for a 5-3 lead.

“This the way we’ve been doing it,” Collins said. “When we get a break, we capitalize on it. Whether we get an error or a walk, we seem to be able to execute and get something out of it. Right now, we’re just tough to beat.”

The game began well for the Dodgers, as Paul Konerko homered in the second and had an RBI single in the fourth, but an ended much as it did Monday night, with a huge crowd on its feet, roaring its approval of another Angel victory, this one punctuated by DeLucia’s strikeout.

“It’s almost like a playoff atmosphere,” DeLucia said. “I’ve never been to the playoffs . . . but from what I’ve been told, that’s what it’s all about.”