Percival Has Nasty Feeling That the Wall Is Closing In

They haven’t tormented him quite like the Cleveland Indians, but you will not find any Boston Red Sox players--or Fenway Park’s famed Green Monster--on Angel reliever Troy Percival’s buddy list.

Percival took another beating at the hands of the Red Sox and their jumbo-sized left-field wall Friday night when Troy O’Leary smacked a two-run double in the eighth inning to rally the wild-card-contending Red Sox to a 4-3 victory before 32,921 in Fenway Park.

The flame-throwing Angel closer had replaced Mark Petkovsek with two out and a runner on first and the Angels leading, 3-2. After a walk to pinch-hitter Brian Daubach, O’Leary, who bats left-handed, lofted a fly ball off the wall in left-center, scoring the tying and winning runs.

Percival, beaten on a thigh-high, over-the-middle fastball, has now blown three of his last four save opportunities dating to Aug. 13, and he has a 0-3 career record and 7.71 earned-run average against the Red Sox.

“I thought it was an out when it went up, but in this park you’ve got to make them hit it on the ground,” Percival said. “You know he’s trying to hit it off that wall.”

Percival should. Exactly one year ago today, he took the mound in Fenway with a 7-3 ninth-inning lead. Mo Vaughn, the former Red Sox slugger, hit a two-run double off the wall, and O’Leary added an RBI double off the wall before Percival hung on for a 7-6 victory.

“I’ve seen Troy O’Leary since he was 19, and he’s always been a good hitter,” Angel center fielder Jim Edmonds said. “He uses that wall as good as anyone, so this doesn’t surprise me at all. You’ve got to give them credit. It’s their field, guys aren’t trying to pull the ball, and that makes them better hitters.”

Percival is perplexed as to why he hasn’t been a better pitcher of late. He said his arm feels great, and the radar-gun readings back him up. But he has given up two game-tying home runs in the past two weeks and the tying and winning runs Friday night, spoiling a solid start by Jarrod Washburn.

It also pushed the Angels, who fell to 51-76 and are now 10-31 since the All-Star break, 25 games under .500 for the first time since the final game of the 1980 season, when they were a franchise-worst 65-95.

“We’ve struggled all year, but it’s real tough when I’m the one causing it,” Percival said. “Everyone has troubles, but as a closer, you have to keep them to a minimum. But I’m not going to let this affect my confidence. I’ve had streaks like this before. I’ll put a stop to it.”

Washburn put an end to a mini-streak in which the left-hander had not made it past the fourth inning in two starts. He was 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA in those games but shined Friday night, giving up two runs on two hits and striking out four in five innings.

“I didn’t lose confidence,” said Washburn, who was put in the rotation for an extended audition two weeks ago. “I know I can pitch at this level, I just hadn’t shown it. If [the Angels] were losing confidence in me, this should put it back in their minds that I can do it.”

The Angels built a 3-0 lead on two-out, RBI doubles by Todd Greene and Garret Anderson in the first inning and Greene’s RBI fielder’s choice in the sixth.

Washburn, adding some steam to his fastball, struck out Mike Stanley and Butch Huskey with runners on first and third to end the first and retired 12 in a row from the second through fifth.

But he ran out of gas in the sixth, walking Jose Offerman and John Valentin to start the inning. Angel Manager Terry Collins summoned Petkovsek, who got the dangerous Nomar Garciaparra to ground sharply to short, but the Angels couldn’t turn the double play.

Stanley walked to load the bases, and Huskey lined a 1-and-2 pitch into left for a two-run single, trimming the lead to 3-2. O’Leary drilled a grounder behind the first base bag, but Darin Erstad, in his first game back from the disabled list, made a nice backhand stab and beat O’Leary to the bag.

Petkovsek struck out Damon Buford with runners on second and third to end the inning and got the Angels to the eighth, but Percival couldn’t hold it.