Defeat Leaves Angels in the Dark

There were forces beyond anyone’s control at work Wednesday night at Edison Field.

A power outage delayed the game for six minutes. The Angels’ Matt Wise pitched the best game of his brief major league career, then was demoted. And the Angels lost to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 3-1, in front of 15,178 at Edison Field.

All strange, but true.

“That was kind of bizarre,” Angel shortstop David Eckstein said about the power interruption that knocked out some of the lights at the stadium. “I didn’t know what was happening.”

The game was hard to figure out, as well.

The Devil Rays are cemented in the cellar of the American League East. Even in winning, they have the worst record in baseball at 33-68.

Yet none of their weaknesses were on display.

The Devil Rays entered the game with the third-highest earned-run average in the major leagues. Paul Wilson, Victor Zambrano and Esteban Yan combined to hold the Angels to one unearned run on six hits.

The Devil Rays have the fewest home runs in the league. But Aubrey Huff gave them a 1-0 lead in the second inning by driving a 1-0 pitch into the bullpen in left.

The Devil Rays, the worst fielding team in the league, took advantage of second baseman Adam Kennedy’s second-inning error, converting it into two unearned runs.

The Devil Rays’ season is at the point where looking to the future can happen at any moment. They pulled off a trade during the game, involving a player in the lineup. Catcher Mike DiFelice was pulled in the bottom of the third.

DiFelice and pitcher Albie Lopez--who was scheduled to start against the Angels tonight--were sent to Arizona for pitcher Nick Bierbroldt, outfielder Jason Conti and cash.

“In couple of days, they’ll be happy to be in a pennant race,” Tampa Bay Manager Hal McRae said.

Wilson was just happy to be back in the starting rotation.

Wilson had been banished to the bullpen after a woeful performance as a starter through the season’s first two months. In his last start, he gave up eight runs in two innings to Oakland on May 31. Even the Angels had cuffed Wilson around, scoring eight runs in four innings on May 26.

That was then, this was now. Wilson baffled the Angels through five shutout innings. He retired the first seven batters and gave up only three hits before being relieved by Zambrano to start the sixth.

Wilson had the Angels in the dark long before a power interruption in Anaheim knocked out some of the lights at Edison Field in the sixth inning. Of their 27 outs, 22 never left the infield, including eight strikeouts.

“[Wilson] had a lot more giddyup than when we saw him last time,” Kennedy said.

The same could be said about Wise, who was called up from triple-A Salt Lake City to make this start. This was the third tour of duty with the Angels for Wise, but he pitched like a veteran, striking out seven and giving up only one earned run in six innings.

“I hope I gave them what they wanted,” said Wise, who was sent to Salt Lake City after the game. “I had some mechanical problems the first two innings. I think that’s from getting all hyped up to pitch in the big leagues.”

Wise was concerned in the sixth when the lights dimmed. Wise had to leave against Texas on April 12 because of dizziness.

“For a split second, I thought it was happening again,” Wise said.

His only problem came in the second. Huff led off with a home run and Chris Gomez followed with a single. Brent Abernathy popped up a sacrifice attempt that Kennedy couldn’t handle, putting runners on first and second.

“When a guy bunts, the ball doesn’t always bounce the way you expect it to,” Kennedy said.

DiFelice sacrificed and, one out later, Ben Grieve lined a single into center, scoring Gomez and Abernathy.