Error, Not Percival, Saves Day for Angels

Terry Collins didn’t get much sleep Monday night, fretting over ways he could tweak his lineup to create the right chemistry that would spontaneously combust and spark his flagging team.

Then an idea struck him: Get out of the lab and go back to a simple formula.

“I sat up half the night thinking about ways to mix and match players,” the Angel manager said. “But then I figured what we needed most was to relax, and sometimes when you move guys around a lot, a sense of panic sets in. So you’re going to be seeing this lineup a lot. These are our best players and these are the best spots for them.”

For the first 2 1/2 hours of Tuesday night’s game against Oakland, it looked as if Collins would get to bed early and sleep well, even if his offense was still struggling. But that was before Troy Percival came on in the ninth inning to protect a three-run lead and gave up two hits, walked three and left with the game tied.

These days, nothing comes easy for the Angels--who have lost 10 of their last 15 games--and Tuesday night’s 4-3, 10-inning victory in front of 17,275 at Edison Field was certainly no exception.

Darin Erstad beat out a grounder to second leading off the 10th, took second on Jim Edmonds’ sacrifice and, after Tim Salmon was walked intentionally, Erstad scored when A’s third baseman Mike Blowers threw wildly to first after fielding Cecil Fielder’s ground ball.

Percival’s inability to get three outs before three runs scored wasted a brilliant performance by Chuck Finley, who went eight innings, struck out eight, walked two and gave up only three singles before Jason Giambi doubled leading off the ninth.

Percival got Kurt Abbott to fly out, but he walked Scott Spiezio and pinch-hitter Mike Macfarlane bounced a ground-rule double to left to score Giambi. Pinch-hitter Matt Stairs flared a single to left to bring home Spiezio, and Macfarlane scored on Rickey Henderson’s sacrifice fly.

Percival walked two more batters before Shigetoshi Hasegawa got Blowers--who came to the plate hitting .444 with the bases loaded and has seven grand slams--to pop up.

One game is hardly a conclusive litmus test, but no one will be calling the Angel lineup the Nuclear Nine after Tuesday night. The Angels managed only three hits against A’s starter Kenny Rogers in the first seven innings before scoring twice in the eighth on another infield single by Erstad, a line-drive single to center by Edmonds, a sacrifice fly by Salmon and a double into the right-field corner by Fielder.

With Erstad leading off, Edmonds hitting second, Salmon in the No. 3 spot and Fielder hitting cleanup, followed by Dave Hollins, Garret Anderson, Phil Nevin, rookie Justin Baughman and Gary DiSarcina, the Angels were able to push across only one run in the first seven innings, on a walk, a botched sacrifice attempt that ended in a single and a feeble ground ball in the second inning.

So Finley, the quintessential grinder, needed to dominate on this evening and the veteran left-hander clearly was up to the task. He gave up singles in the first and second innings and a walk in the third, then settled in to retire six in a row before Henderson hit a dribbler to first and Finley got a late start covering the base.

Finley, never known for his grace as a fielder, caught Fielder’s throw with his bare hand, tried to swipe a tag on Henderson, slid on his knees and then tumbled into a somersault. Finley popped back up to his feet and appeared to be unscathed, but you can bet Collins was holding his breath as he ran out to the mound to check on his ace, who has been prone to freak accidents the last couple of years.

Finley apparently wasn’t fazed. He didn’t give up another hit until Giambi’s double in the ninth.

The Angels scored in the third when Nevin led off with a walk and took third when Baughman singled to right after failing on two attempts to sacrifice. Nevin scored as DiSarcina grounded weakly to second base.

Baughman’s looping liner was the only hit Rogers gave up until the sixth, when Salmon ripped a one-out single up the middle and Hollins singled to center one out later.