Mariners Complete Sweep of Angels, 5-0

For the Angels Sunday, it was more a game show than a game. The trouble was deciding just who was the weakest link.

There were too many candidates during a 5-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners before 28,887 at Edison Field. Even Anne Robinson would be left scratching her head.

Adam Kennedy brain-cramped in the third inning, throwing to first instead of tagging Mariner catcher Dan Wilson, who had stopped between first and second. Wilson took second and scored moments later on Kennedy’s throwing error.

Left fielder Garret Anderson got caught straying too far off third base in the second inning, costing the Angels a run. He also pumped a throw, then held the ball, allowing the anything-but-speedy Edgar Martinez to score from second base in the sixth.

Or maybe the weakest link was anyone who picked up a bat for the Angels, who stranded eight runners through the first five innings while the Mariners clung to a 1-0 lead.

The Mariners, who have baseball’s best record, don’t need that kind of help.

“Things just aren’t going well for us right now,” Kennedy said. “The wheels pretty much have fallen off. Things just aren’t going to get better. We have to make them better.”

When asked how, Kennedy said, “If we knew, we would have stopped this whenever.”

Or, as Manager Mike Scioscia unintentionally put it, “It’s always darkest before the storm.”

Things were so dark Sunday that hitting coach Mickey Hatcher herded stragglers into the clubhouse after the game, then closed the doors. Whether a storm developed inside, no one would say.

What was clear was that the Angels didn’t play their best baseball during a lost weekend. They weren’t even mediocre in losing three in a row to the Mariners.

In the second, Anderson singled, then was safe at second on pitcher Freddy Garcia’s throwing error. Orlando Palmeiro’s groundout put runners on second and third. Bengie Molina then hit a chopper to the mound. Anderson broke to the plate, then got caught in a rundown.

“We had a contact play on,” Anderson said. “I’m going to take off as soon as it is hit. If the ball had gotten by him, I would have walked home.”

First baseman Larry Barnes, who stranded five runners Saturday, left four more Sunday, two on an inning-ending double play in the fourth.

Garcia (9-1) retired 13 of the last 15 batters for his first complete game since 1998.

The Angels’ hitting has been a concern all season. But offense wasn’t the Angels’ biggest problem.

“We had some plays we didn’t make and that cost us runs yesterday and today,” Scioscia said. “That’s not like us. We don’t open the door, even a little bit. And with the way Seattle is playing, you can’t open it an inch.”

Kennedy flung it open in the third. Wilson led off with a single and Ichiro Suzuki followed with a slow ground ball to Kennedy. Wilson slowed to avoid being tagged by Kennedy, who threw to first for the out. Wilson beat Barnes’ throw to second.

Mark McLemore then hit a ground ball to the right side. Kennedy ranged to his left to make the play, then threw the ball away.

Pitcher Matt Wise, who struck out nine, held the Mariners to one unearned run until the sixth.

Then Edgar Martinez doubled off the right-field fence with one out and John Olerud rolled a single into left field, past a diving David Eckstein. Martinez was waved home, but Anderson held the ball after pumping once. He then lobbed the ball into the infield.

“I didn’t have a good grip on the ball,” Anderson said. “If I had thrown it, who knows where it would have gone.”

Bret Boone followed with a long home run to left for a 4-0 lead.

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