Angels Are Odd Men Out in 11-4 Loss

Angel pitcher Chuck Finley struck out seven consecutive batters Friday, one shy of the American League record. Yet, he was cooling his heels in the clubhouse by the fifth inning.

First baseman Chris Pritchett slid into second base in the fifth, got up and continued his home run trot.

Mo Vaughn homered--no shock there--in the seventh, then was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the ninth.

Such strange-but-true moments were contained in the mess that was the Angels’ 11-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals. A crowd of 30,946 at Edison Field certainly didn’t lack for entertainment. It was the Angels who came up wanting.

They lost their third consecutive game, dropped four games under .500 and fell 5 1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers in a season that just keeps meandering along.

“We’re lucky no one [in the West Division] has gone 30-15, or something like that,” Manager Terry Collins said. “We don’t like being under .500, but we realize that with all the injuries we have had, it could be a lot worse. We have had some guys step up and pick us up.”

Finley, coming off nine shutout innings in a victory over Tampa Bay last Sunday, seemed fine at first. He gave up a solo home run to Carlos Beltran in the first inning. He also struck out the side in the second and third, then got Beltran swinging to open the seventh.

It left him one short of the league record held by Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens and Ron Davis. It also was his apex for the night.

The Royals scored four in the fourth and four more in the fifth. Finley didn’t get an out in the fifth, giving up a double to Carlos Febles, a walk to Beltran and a run-scoring single to Johnny Damon.

Jermaine Dye’s three-run homer against reliever Al Levine two batters later pretty much decided matters.

“We’ve had two or three opportunities to get to .500 this season,” said Vaughn, who homered for the third consecutive game. “We couldn’t cash it it in.”

The Angels had their chances Friday, but couldn’t put the Royals away, even after Darin Erstad pegged Kansas City starter Kevin Appier in the ankle with a line drive in the second inning. Appier stuck around six innings to improve to 6-2, but he was in trouble throughout.

He gave up a run-scoring single to Garret Anderson in the first and another to Randy Velarde in the second. It left the Angels with a 2-1 lead, but they could have had so much more.

Greene struck out with two on and one out in the first. Pritchett followed by fouling out to third baseman Joe Randa.

In the second, Vaughn struck out with two on. Andy Sheets flied out with two on in the third. Vaughn was robbed with Velarde on first in the fourth, when first baseman Scott Leius made a diving stab of a line drive.

“When you have an opportunity early in the game, you have to put people away,” Vaughn said.

“You got to let the ball tell you where to hit. If it’s low and away, it’s telling me to go to left field. If it’s inside, it’s telling me to go to right.”

Angel hitters have appeared deaf lately. With the exception of Vaughn and Anderson, the team has lacked key hits. Those two were responsible for seven of the Angels’ nine runs and five of their six home runs in the last three games.

A home run by another Angel is so rare that no one could have been shocked when Pritchett hustled and slid into second in the fifth. He was then told by umpires that he had homered, and the ball had bounced back on to the field.

But hitting wasn’t the only problem. The Angels, tops in the American League in fielding, made three errors, costing them two runs.

Shortstop Sheets whipped a throw into right field trying to get a force at second base, allowing a run to score in the fourth. Greene mishandled Febles’ double, allowing him to take third, to start the fourth. Anderson had an error on Dye’s single, which led to an unearned run in the seventh.