It Feels Like Home to the Padres

Timely hitting, a heads-up defensive play and just enough pitching for a well-earned victory had the Edison Field crowd screaming with delight Sunday.

Unfortunately for the Angels, most of the 37,697 in attendance seemed to be Padre fans, who thoroughly enjoyed their team’s performance.

The 6-3 Padre victory came with all the staples that have brought them from last place to within sight of the National League West Division leaders in less than a month. It was something the Angels could only envy, especially since they fell 8 1/2 games behind Texas in the American League West.

“You got to do everything and do all the little things too,” Angel first baseman Mo Vaughn said. “The way the Padres are playing, they’re doing that. We’re not.”

All you had to do was compare and contrast.

The Padres got a key two-out hit from shortstop Damian Jackson, their No. 9 hitter, in the second inning. Jackson lined a 1-2 pitch from Mike Fyhrie (0-2) into center field, scoring two runs.

The Angels got nothing from the middle of their order in the fifth. With two on and no outs, Vaughn hit into a double play and Tim Salmon struck out.

Padre second baseman Quilvio Veras smothered an Angel rally in the sixth with a smart play, turning Darin Erstad’s grounder into an inning-ending double play.

Angel pitcher Al Levine missed the bag while covering first base in the eighth, allowing Ed Giovanola to score form second with the Padres last run.

Padre pitcher Brian Boehringer labored through five innings, giving up four hits and walking four. Yet, he allowed only one run.

Fyhrie went five-plus innings, giving up the two-out single to Jackson and solo home runs to Ben Davis and John Vander Wal.

Just a taste of why these teams are moving in opposite directions. The Angels have lost three straight. The Padres have won 21 of 27 and moved from last place to within four games of first-place San Francisco.

“Tonight’s game was kind of what we’ve been doing the last month,” said Padre first baseman Wally Joyner, who had four hits and scored two runs. “We made them make outs. We kept things going. We kept the Angels on their heels.”

Which only pleased the pro-Padre crowd.

“I feel like I’ve been on the road the last few games,” Vaughn said. “I was spoiled in Boston, people came out no matter what. Here, you have to earn your attitude. The talent is here to be a first-place team. We got some work to do.”

Or, to be more succinct. . .

“We go bigger problems than the crowd,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said.

The offense, again, topped the list. The Angels, last in the major leagues in runs scored, were punchless again Sunday.

Vander Wal and Davis added to a trend at Edison Field. With their home runs, the Angels have been out-homered, 28-3, in their last 13 home games.

The Angels have 10 home runs in the last 19 games, but six were at hitter-friendly Coors Field in Colorado.

“I put the blame on myself,” said Vaughn, who has three hits in his last 18 at-bats. “I was brought here to produce offense and right now, I’m not producing it.”

Vaughn had a sacrifice fly in the first inning, giving the Angels a 1-0 lead. But, after Erstad and Velarde opened the fifth with back-to-back singles, Vaughn grounded to Jackson who started a double play.

Salmon, who was playing his second game since coming back from a wrist injury, then struck out.

“It’s tough not being able to produce at a level I’m used to.” said Salmon, who will move from designated hitter back to right field today.

The Angels got run-scoring singles from Matt Walbeck and Gary DiSarcina in the sixth inning to pull to within 4-3.

But Veras then fielded Erstad’s ground ball and caught DiSarcina coming off first. DiSarcina ducked and back-peddled, but Veras tagged him and flipped to Joyner for the inning-ending double play.