Angels Find Comfort in Oakland

The Angels came to Oakland still stinging from being swept by the Texas Rangers. They found something to ease that pain.

The Angels beat the Athletics, 10-6, Friday night even though both teams reached new depths in front of 8,570 at Oakland Coliseum.

The Athletics made four errors and Chad Harville’s wild pitch allowed Randy Velarde to score the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. The Angels made one error, but also had two passed balls and a base-running mistake.

The Angels needed something positive after being out-scored, 32-5, in losing three straight to the first-place Rangers.

“We were humiliated the last three games,” second baseman Velarde said. “We were dominated in every facet of the game. But we are big league ball players. We should be able to make adjustments day in and day out.”

Troy Glaus did. He had only seven hits in his last 61 at-bats when he hit a Doug Jones’ pitch into left field for a seventh-inning double. It scored Todd Greene and Garret Anderson for a 6-5 lead.

It was Glaus’ first runs batted in since his home run against the New York Yankees on June 18.

The Angels gave it right back, when Angel reliever Mark Petkovsek gave up consecutive two-out singles to score Ben Grieve.

Such is the bumpy road the Angels are on.

They put pitcher Ken Hill on the 15-day disabled list with elbow problems, the 15th Angel to go on the list this season. He is the second starting pitcher to go on in the last week, joining Tim Belcher (broken finger).

The pitchers who are healthy are struggling.

Knuckleball pitcher Steve Sparks lasted only 4 2/3 innings Friday, the fourth time in six games an Angel starter hasn’t gotten past the fifth inning.

Sparks has been bothered by a sore ring finger on his right hand since being hit by a line drive against Seattle June 22.

He deserved a better fate Friday. He gave up five runs, but two were unearned.

The Athletics had three hits in the first, but only left the infield. Still, they scored two runs, one on catcher Steve Deckers’ passed ball.

Jason Giambi made up for a costly second-inning error by ripping a double to right, scoring Grieve and Matt Stairs to tie the score, 4-4. When Reggie Williams had trouble picking up the ball, Giambi went to third.

He scored the go-ahead run when Ramon Hernandez grounded the ball up the middle. Shortstop Gary DiSarcina made a diving stop, but couldn’t throw Hernandez out at first.

The Angels managed some offense off starter Kenny Rogers, who has baffled them for years and even threw a perfect game against them in 1994. No one has suffered more than DiSarcina, who entered the game three for 44 lifetime against Rogers.

“I look at it as I’m three for nine . . . three for nine years,” DiSarcina said.

The Angels didn’t get a lot off Rogers, but the Athletics helped out.

With runners on first and second, Giambi fielded Velarde’s grounder and tried to start a double play, but pegged Darin Erstad in the back of the head with his throw to second.

The ball bounced off into left field, allowing DiSarcina to score from second for a 3-2 Angel lead.

Rogers didn’t help himself by walking the bases loaded to start the third. He got out of it cheaply enough, allowing a run on Williams’ sacrifice fly for a 4-2 lead.

But Decker was thrown out at third on the play and DiSarcina grounded out to end the inning.

It wasn’t only an Angel starting pitcher who left early, but their pitching coach as well.

Dick Pole was tossed by first-base umpire Terry Craft in the bottom of the first.

As they did last Sunday, the Angels struck quickly against Rogers. They linked three consecutive singles, with Mo Vaughn’s hit driving in Erstad for a 1-0 lead. Greene then grounded out, scoring Velarde.

Vaughn drove in 11 runs in June, with six in one game. Angel cleanup hitters had seven RBIs during the month.

“I’m not Tim Salmon, I am who I am,” said Greene, who struck four times in four at-bats Wednesday. “I haven’t been consistent.

“It’s hard for [Manager] Terry [Collins] to put me there, you need that consistency in the cleanup spot.”