Finley, Angels Just Keep Struggling

Tim Belcher is nursing a broken finger. Ken Hill can’t pitch because of elbow problems.

If ever there was a time for Chuck Finley to pitch like a No. 1 starter, it was Saturday. Instead, the Angels got another in a string of poor performances in a 9-7 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

A crowd of 50,916 at Network Associates Coliseum saw Finley implode in the fourth inning when he gave up six runs. It was the third consecutive game in which he has failed to go beyond the fifth inning.

“It has been a long time since I’ve been hammered three times in a row like that,” said Finley, who is winless since June 2. “I can’t remember it ever happening before. I thought I had it there tonight, only I didn’t.”

His performance came a day after he met with General Manager Bill Bavasi, who is believed to have offered Finley a two-year contract extension.

Finley, who is acting as his own agent, is in the last year of a four-year contract that will pay him $5.8 million this season. Bavasi would not comment on whether he met with Finley or offered an extension.

Finley said only, “It doesn’t help me to say what Bill and I talked about.”

Said shortstop Gary DiSarcina: “I’d be real down if they didn’t sign him to an extension. There would be a void here. He has been here through everything, the highs, the lows, the bus crashes, the playoff games, what happened to us in 1995. He is kind of a symbol for this team.”

A contract extension could keep the 36-year-old Finley in Anaheim or it could pave the way for a trade later this month. Finley has said he would like to go to a contender, especially if it would help the Angels pick up prospects.

“If I keep pitching like this, [Bavasi] is going to be talking to me about releasing me,” Finley said. Finley gave up eight runs, six earned, in 3 1/3 innings Saturday. He has given up 21 earned runs in his last 11 2/3 innings covering three starts.

Numbers that don’t help with Belcher and Hill on the disabled list. “When we left spring training, we thought of Chuck as our No. 1 starter and we still do,” Manager Terry Collins said. “I’m not a pitching coach, but I’ve seen big, tall guys get out of whack before.”

Finley has carried the team before too. In 1997, he had a 3-6 record before beating Colorado, 4-1, on July 1. It was the beginning of Finley’s club record 14-game winning streak.

“If his mechanics are straight and if he is healthy, Chuck can carry us,” DiSarcina said. “There is no reason he can’t reel off 10 straight wins. He can be the guy who stops losing streaks.

“At the same time, to pin all our hopes on him is unfair.”

It was downright unrealistic Saturday.

Finley (4-9, 5.52 earned-run average) was in trouble the first three innings, but got off relatively cheap.

An inning later, however, John Jaha’s three-run home run capped a six-run inning, although it wasn’t all Finley’s fault.

Troy Glaus’ throwing error on Ryan Christenson’s ground ball started the inning. Garret Anderson appeared to have a bead on Miguel Tejada’s long fly to center field, but couldn’t bring it down. It went for a double, and two runs scored to give the A’s a 4-2 lead.

After Olmedo Saenz’s run-scoring single, Jaha knocked Finley out of the game by hitting the first pitch for a three-run homer and a 8-2 lead.

“I don’t feel any urgency to do more because of the way our starting rotation is right now,” Finley said. “I feel an urgency to pitch better.”

The Angel offense stirred some, scoring five in the sixth, two on Orlando Palmeiro’s double. Later, they had runners on second and third with two out, trailing, 9-7. Collins sent up a pinch-hitter for Todd Greene, who had popped up with the bases loaded in his previous at-bat. Jeff Huson looked at a third strike.