Angels a Non-Force to Be Reckoned With

The Angels’ griping and finger pointing may have stopped--at least publicly--but the losing continues.

There was one scene in their 7-2 loss to Toronto on Wednesday in front of 21,592 at Edison Field that stung all the way up in President Tony Tavares’ box.

Mo Vaughn and Tim Salmon walked with two out in the first inning. Garret Anderson then bounced the first pitch he saw to Blue Jay second baseman Homer Bush.

“I wish I had the answers,” Tavares said. “Two guys walk and the next guy swings at the first pitch? Is that a plan? That’s just one example from this season.

“At the end of the season, there will be a day of reckoning. There will be a day of reckoning.”

Break up the Angels? Dozens of mediocre pitchers must be crying, “Say it ain’t so?”

The bickering among themselves and complaints about Manager Terry Collins soured the season long ago. A lack of offense--the Angels are last the major leagues in runs--has left them needing a serious winning streak just to get things back to dismal.

But if the season has seemed uncertain and volatile, wait until the off-season. Whether there will be a couple of moves, a housecleaning or razing, remains to be seen. Or maybe Disney officials will just holler, “Uncle.”

Standing pat doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

“It would be a shame to tear this team apart just for the sake of doing it,” outfielder Jim Edmonds said. “Anyone can see what has happened here this year. It’s not an excuse. It’s reality.”

Edmonds considers injuries the problem, including the shoulder surgery that forced him to sit out four months. Salmon and shortstop Gary DiSarcina sat out considerable chunks of the season and Vaughn hasn’t been right since the first inning of the first game, when he tumbled into the dugout chasing a pop fly and sprained his ankle.

“Those are four pretty important players,” Edmonds said. “If we’re around, you’re not asking other guys to carry so much of the load. Darin Erstad and Garret Anderson and Todd Greene can’t carry 25 guys.

“We’ve asked guys to pick up the slack who should not be doing that job. Maybe put the blame on my shoulders. I got hurt. I wasn’t here for anybody.”

Tavares, though, saw the Angels overcome injuries the last two seasons and still contend. He has promised changes, and that certainly means more than deciding whether to pick up Edmonds’ option or coming to terms with free-agent pitcher Chuck Finley.

Those things seemed like easy calls, in comparison to other seemingly necessary changes, after Wednesday.

Edmonds had a two-out single to give the Angels a 1-0 lead in the fifth. It was the third consecutive game he has driven in a run, an offensive tear on a team that has scored two or fewer runs in 45 games this season.

Finley provided his fifth consecutive solid start. He shut out the Blue Jays through five innings and got two out in the sixth, then hit Shawn Green with a pitch. Carlos Delgado slammed Finley’s next pitch into the right-field seats to tie the score, 2-2.

An inning later, Shannon Stewart’s single scored Jacob Brumfield for a 3-2 lead. That extended Stewart’s hitting streak to 23 games and Finley (8-11) could pretty much count on a loss at that point.

The Angels had six hits, two coming with two out in the ninth.

“I can’t say anything that I haven’t said for the last three months,” Collins said.

The Angels (51-75), who have never lost more than 95 games in a season, would have to go 11-25 the rest of the season to lose 100 games. That would be an improvement on their 10-30 record since the All-Star Break.

“I have been on some bad teams, but day in and day out, this is very frustrating,” said Finley, who is in his 14th season with the Angels. “Every time we think we might be squared away and might make something out of this year, something happens.”