Going...and Gone

Manager Mike Scioscia has avoided answering questions about the future for more than a week, refusing to turn his attention to 2001 until the Angels were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

There is no need to duck such questions any longer.

The reality of the present came crashing down on the Angels Tuesday night, as a 10-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics eliminated them from playoff contention, and now the only thing the Angels have to look forward to is the future.

An Oakland Coliseum crowd of 22,234, which included a walk-up sale of 12,000, saw A’s right-hander Tim Hudson retire 15 consecutive batters from the first through sixth innings en route to an eight-inning, five-hit, five-strikeout performance that improved his record to 19-6.

Jason Giambi blasted his 41st home run of the season in the eighth inning, a three-run shot that elicited chants of “MVP, MVP,” and Miguel Tejada had a two-run homer in the second and an RBI single in the first to help the A’s maintain their 1 1/2-game lead over Cleveland in the wild-card race.

Seattle’s 5-0 victory over the Rangers Tuesday night kept the Mariners a half-game ahead of the A’s in the American League West.

The loss dropped the Angels eight games back in the West and 7 1/2 games back in the wild-card standings with five games left. They will have a say in who wins the division and the wild card--they have two more games against Oakland before closing with three home games against Seattle--but they are done, finished, over and out.

“Even though we’re eliminated, these are still big games because we’re going to dictate who wins the division,” Angel designated hitter Tim Salmon said. “They’re not going to be games where all the September call-ups go out there and play it out.”

Scioscia has vowed to play most of his regulars until the division title is decided because it’s important to “maintain the integrity of the game.” But playing a role in who reaches the playoffs is not Scioscia’s idea of a consolation prize.

“I won’t take a lot of solace in knocking another team out,” Scioscia said. “I want to win as many games as we can, and we’ll continue to play hard, but it’s not going to make our season or off-season if we knock another team out of the playoffs.”

The Angels kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers over the weekend, but to avoid elimination, they needed to win their final seven games, and the Mariners and A’s needed to lose all of their remaining games.

The A’s made sure that didn’t happen, beating them, 7-5, Monday night and taking them out of Tuesday night’s game with a five-run first inning and a two-run second off left-hander Scott Schoeneweis, who has lost his last three decisions, giving up 17 runs on 17 hits in nine innings.

Schoeneweis (7-10) retired the first two batters in the first and second innings before running into major control problems. Giambi and Olmedo Saenz drew two-out walks in the first, and Tejada singled to right for one run.

Ben Grieve walked to load the bases, Adam Piatt and Eric Chavez both walked to force in runs, and Ramon Hernandez capped the rally with a two-run single.

By the time Terrence Long struck out to end the inning--he also opened the inning with a strikeout--Schoeneweis had thrown 46 pitches, 27 of them balls. His final line: Two innings, seven earned runs, six hits, six walks and three strikeouts.

Schoeneweis’ rocky first inning wiped out a 2-0 lead the Angels had built in the top of the first when Darin Erstad singled, Orlando Palmeiro doubled to right for a run and Garret Anderson hit a two-out, RBI single.

Saenz drew another two-out walk in the second, and Tejada blasted his 29th home run of the season over the center-field wall to give Oakland a 7-2 lead.

THE RACES

The Yankees still need one more win the clinch the East, while Seattle remained one-half game ahead of Oakland in the West. Meanwhile, the A’s maintained a 1 1/2-game lead over Cleveland in the wild-card race.