Costly Mistakes Derail Angels

Two sinking fastballs that didn’t sink left pitcher Scott Schoeneweis and the Angels with a sinking feeling.

Greg Colbrunn and Danny Bautista took advantage of the rare Schoeneweis mistakes Sunday, belting back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 3-2 victory over the Angels before 36,349 in Bank One Ballpark.

The two shots in a span of four pitches sent Schoeneweis to the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, wiping out the 2-1 lead the Angels had forged on his two-out, run-scoring single in the top of the seventh.

One moment, Schoeneweis was blooping a potential game-winning single to left field for his first major league hit and RBI, and watching from first base as Manager Mike Scioscia called for the game ball.

The next, Schoeneweis was watching Colbrunn rip a first-pitch fastball over the center-field wall to tie the score and Bautista, acquired in a trade with the Florida Marlins on Friday, line a 2-and-0 fastball into the right-field seats for an opposite-field homer to win the game.

“I’m glad we went ahead and I contributed to that,” Schoeneweis said, “but I’d rather have struck out and put up another zero and let the guys who are paid to hit do that.”

Schoeneweis gave up only one other run, on Matt Williams’ RBI groundout in the fourth. The left-hander retired the side in order in the first, second, third and sixth innings and gave up only six hits in seven innings.

The Angels held a 2-1 lead on the strength of Garret Anderson’s 16th homer of the season in the second inning against Arizona starter Armando Reynoso and Bengie Molina’s double and Schoeneweis’ single in the seventh. Then, boom-boom, the Diamondbacks were ahead in the bottom of the seventh.

“If I throw a pitch above the knees, it seems to be hit far every time,” Schoeneweis said. “They never seem to foul them off or miss them. I can’t afford to leave pitches up. I left two up today, and that was the ballgame.”

Reynoso gave up two runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 strong innings, but left-hander Dan Plesac got the victory by striking out Darin Erstad, the league’s leading hitter, with two on to end the seventh.

Right-hander Byung-Hyun Kim then struck out five of six batters--Benji Gil, Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon, Troy Glaus and Molina--in the eighth and ninth to earn his eighth save, baffling the Angels with his array of fastballs and breaking balls and his sidearm and submarine deliveries.

“You have to take his motion out of the equation and concentrate on where his release point is, but that’s easier said than done,” Scioscia said. “Deception is a big part of his success, and it takes time to figure him out. He did a great job of getting six outs.”

So did Angel reliever Al Levine. He got three outs in the eighth, replacing Schoeneweis with the bases loaded and no outs and getting Williams to check-swing into a first-to-home-to-first double play and Colbrunn to ground out to second to keep the Angels within striking distance.

“What’s lost in this is the job by Levine, a great turn by Bengie [Molina, the Angel catcher] and Adam Kennedy [Angel second baseman] getting over to first to cover,” Scioscia said. “That’s the stuff that is going to win some games for us this year. It just didn’t work out today.”

The day wasn’t a total loss for the Angels, though. A total loss would have included Troy Glaus going on the disabled list, and it appeared the third baseman might have suffered a serious injury when he knocked knees with Colbrunn, the Arizona first baseman, while returning to first on a pickoff attempt in the second inning.

Glaus crumbled to the ground, clutching his right knee, and was tagged out after falling off the bag. He was on the ground for several minutes before getting up, jogging a few yards and declaring himself fit to remain in the game. Glaus suffered a bruise but is not expected to be sidelined.

“I thought it was a lot worse at first,” Scioscia said. “It just looks like he has a contusion, and he should be ready for Tuesday. It’s not a good feeling to see any player get hurt, and we’ve had our share of injuries this year, and when it happens to a guy like Troy, of course your concerned.”