Angels’ Slow Descent Continues in 12-2 Loss

Still no word on whether the contract extension Angel Manager Terry Collins thought he was close to signing last week is still on the table or whether it has disappeared like the Angel offense.

Neither Angel President Tony Tavares nor General Manager Bill Bavasi will discuss the subject, leaving some to speculate that the front office might be having second thoughts.

As for the players, they have done almost nothing to help Collins’ cause, turning in another lackluster performance while getting hammered by the Arizona Diamondbacks, 12-2, Friday night before 37,042 in Edison Field.

Since several Angels went to Bavasi on June 2 to discuss concerns about Collins, the Angels have lost five of seven games, scoring only 16 runs in the five losses.

The Angels have scored more than four runs in two of their last 17 games, they’ve been held to 27 hits in their last four games, including five off Arizona right-hander Armando Reynoso in eight innings Friday night, and they are now eight games behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the American League West.

“I can’t think of a night where we’ve had a game like this all year,” Collins said, momentarily forgetting that ultra-forgettable 10-1 loss to Toronto on April 27. “It was a bad day.”

The heart of the Angel order--the second through fifth batters--combined to go one for 16 Friday night, continuing a disturbing trend.

No. 3 batter Mo Vaughn has gone 10 games without a homer, his longest drought of the season. Cleanup hitter Garret Anderson hasn’t driven in a run since June 2. No. 2 batter Randy Velarde hasn’t driven in a run since June 1, and No. 5 hitter Todd Greene has one RBI in his last seven games.

“We’ve hit the ball good a lot of nights, but we haven’t had a lot of RBI opportunities,” Collins said. “And when we hit the ball hard, it seems to be right at people.”

Even the two things Collins has come to count on--starting pitching and relief pitching--let him down. Right-hander Ken Hill was bombed for five runs and nine hits, including three homers, in 5 1/3 innings, and relievers Mike Magnante, Shigetoshi Hasegawa and Al Levine combined to give up seven runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Third baseman Matt Williams led the Diamondbacks with four hits and two RBIs, Jay Bell added three hits, including a homer and an RBI double, Travis Lee had two doubles and two RBIs, and Steve Finley, Andy Fox and Kelly Stinnett homered.

“I didn’t have any pop on my ball--I was topping out at 87 or 88 [mph],” said Hill, whose fastballs usually clock in the 93-mph range. “I just hope it’s not a dead arm. I made some mistakes and paid for them.”

Hill said he didn’t feel good warming up Friday night, and he thought he might have been hurt by Thursday’s off day because he didn’t even pick up a baseball.

“But that’s not an excuse,” Hill said. “The three home runs were all on pitches right down the middle of the plate.”

The Diamondbacks scored their first run in the second inning when Lee doubled off the center-field wall and scored on David Dellucci’s two-out single.

Bell made the score 2-0 in the third when he slammed a Hill pitch over the wall in center for his 19th home run, and Stinnett’s homer to left made the score 3-0 in the fifth.

After Williams singled to open the sixth and Lee flied out, Finley ripped Hill’s first pitch deep into the seats in right for a two-run homer, his 15th, and a 5-0 lead.

That turned out to be Hill’s last pitch, as Collins pulled the right-hander in favor of Magnante, who let a two-run inning balloon into a six-run inning.

Magnante faced six batters, and the Diamondbacks scored a run on the only batter Magnante retired--Tony Womack, who hit a sacrifice fly.

Magnante left the bases loaded for Hasegawa, who gave up Williams’ two-run single before getting Lee on an inning-ending flyout.

Reliever Al Levine gave up Fox’s homer in the ninth, and the Angels scored a pair of consolation runs in the bottom of the ninth on Troy Glaus’ two-run homer off reliever John Frascatore.