One Bad Pitch Spoils a Bunch

Angel reliever Al Levine had a pretty good idea his second offering to pinch-hitter Denny Hocking in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday was a bad pitch, but it was the accompanying soundtrack that confirmed his worst fears.

Hocking tore into a Levine sinker, smashing it over the center-field wall for a game-ending home run to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 5-4 victory over the Angels before 17,352 in the Metrodome. Hocking was mobbed by his teammates at home plate and suffered a broken nose in the celebration.

“It was just a bad pitch, what can I say?” said Levine, who also gave up a game-winning single to Kansas City’s Gregg Zaun in the ninth Thursday night. “The majority of time, you know it’s a bad pitch when it leaves your hand. I knew this was a bad pitch, especially when I heard it.”

Hocking’s walk-off homer turned the elation of the Angels’ four-run comeback in the top of the ninth into a crushing defeat, a loss that capped a dismal 1-5 trip through Kansas City and Minnesota and dropped the Angels 10 games behind Oakland in the American League wild-card standings with 25 games to go.

The Angels begin a 13-game homestand against the Royals, Twins, Mariners and A’s on Tuesday. It will take a Seattle-type September by the Angels and an Angel-like September by the A’s for the Angels to come close to contending for a playoff berth. Don’t count on it.

“We’re in a situation right now where, on paper, it doesn’t look promising,” Angel center fielder Darin Erstad said. “We are capable of stringing together a lot of wins, but we’re at a point now where we can’t lose much more. That sense of urgency better be there on Tuesday.”

Was Erstad insinuating that sense of urgency was absent this past week?

“I can say we were flat on this road trip,” Erstad said. “We weren’t the team we were at the All-Star break all the way around. We have to take it upon ourselves to change that mentality. But we battled Saturday [for an 11-9 victory over Minnesota] and [Sunday], so I think we’re going to come out fighting on Tuesday.”

The Angels pounded a season-high 18 hits Saturday. For eight innings Sunday, it looked as if their arms were tired. Twin right-hander Rick Reed blanked the Angels on three hits, retiring 15 in a row from the third through eighth innings, and home runs by Cristian Guzman and David Ortiz off Angel starter Ramon Ortiz helped stake Minnesota to a 4-0 lead.

But Erstad led off the ninth with a single, and David Eckstein’s line drive toward the middle went off second baseman Luis Rivas’ glove for an error. Twin Manager Tom Kelly summoned right-hander Todd Jones to face Garret Anderson, who lofted a three-run home run to right, clearing the high wall by about two feet, to make it 4-3.

Troy Glaus struck out for the third time in the game, but Scott Spiezio kept the inning alive with a single to left. Tim Salmon then doubled, advancing Spiezio to third. Kelly replaced Jones with left-hander Eddie Guardado, who gave up a game-tying sacrifice fly to Adam Kennedy.

As the Angels rallied in the top of the ninth, Levine warmed up in the bullpen down the right-field line. Watching Levine closely was Twin backup catcher Tom Prince, who passed along advice to Hocking.

“He told me he was throwing nothing but fastballs away,” said Hocking. “The first pitch was a slider away, and I know he didn’t want to go 2-0.” Levine went to his trusty sinking fastball on his second pitch, but it stayed up. Hocking sent his third homer of the season an estimated 407 feet to center.

“I tried to get the bat head out and buggy-whip one,” Hocking said. “The way Erstad went after it, and the way he’s been making plays this series, I thought he might catch it. A home run to center field for me