Angels Finish a Wild Night With Rare Win Over Tigers

By the time Tim Belcher finished pitching to the second Detroit batter Monday, he had a wild pitch and the Angels had committed an error.

By the time Tiger pitcher Dave Borkowski had finished with his second batter, he had made two errors.

This was not going to be stretch-run baseball.

So by the time the Angels pulled out a 6-5 victory, it was even more clear that the 17,145 at Edison Field were being entertained, but in a vaudeville-type fashion.

Borkowski made a mess of his eighth major league start, with three errors, yet came away with a no decision. The Angels appeared to have a victory handed to them, but squandered a 5-3 lead.

Somewhat fittingly, it was left to Matt Walbeck, the Angels’ journeyman catcher, to decide matters. His looping single in the eighth inning scored Garret Anderson to break a 5-5 tie.

It ended a game that, unfortunately for both teams, was befitting their station in the American League. The Angels’ record (51-73) is better than only the Tigers (49-75) and Kansas City Royals (49-75) in the league.

Not that Angel Manager Terry Collins is keeping track.

“I never think about it,” Collins said. “I don’t look at the standings. I know where we are. I don’t worry about Detroit or Kansas City or the Dodgers or the Houston Astros. I don’t worry about anything except trying to get us to play better.”

Worries enough for one man.

There were positive moments, mostly by Anderson.

He had four hits, scored three runs and drove in another. He also made a leaping catch on a foul ball, robbing a fan of a souvenir.

His efforts were nearly wasted when the Angel bullpen couldn’t hold a 5-3 lead.

“We’ve talked about going out and having some fun and finishing strong,” Angel right fielder Tim Salmon said. “But there is still pride involved when we’re not beating the teams we should be beating. I guess it’s easier said than done.”

The Tigers, presumably, fall into that category. Monday was another misadventure for them.

They had a runner on third with no outs in the first--courtesy of Angel center fielder Jim Edmonds misplaying Luis Polonia’s broken-bat single and Belcher’s wild pitch. But Polonia was left at third.

It was Borkowski, though, who truly struggled.

He hasn’t exactly burst onto the major league scene. He is winless in eight starts and may have settled somewhere below rock-bottom.

Borkowski booted Trent Durrington’s one-hopper to start the first. He then compounded that by throwing away a pickoff attempt. Durrington later scored on Mo Vaughn’s ground out.

Borkowski was just loosening up.

With two on and no outs in the second, Borkowski fielded a Troy Glaus comebacker, but his throw to second sailed high and into center field. Anderson scored to break a 1-1 tie. Edmonds ended up on third and scored on Walbeck’s double-play grounder.

The Angels had three runs on two groundouts and three errors. The only hit in that sequence was by Anderson, who was awarded a single after shortstop Deivi Cruz misplayed his ground ball.

Belcher tap-danced through six innings, allowing three runs.

His wild pitch in the first inning didn’t hurt, but the one he threw in the second did. It put Frank Catalanotto, who had singled, on second. He scored on Damion Easley’s single to tie the score 1-1.

Belcher gave up a two-run homer to Karim Garcia in the sixth--giving Belcher a staff-high 22 home runs allowed despite missing more than a month with a broken finger.

He left leading, 5-3, but the bullpen couldn’t make it stand.

Lou Pote faced three batters in the seventh, walking two before giving up a run-scoring double by Tony Clark. Mike Magnante replaced Pote and got three groundouts, one of which scored Dean Palmer with the tying run.