Angels Get Floored by Parque

In the home clubhouse, celebration. For a team playing with next year in mind, a toast to Jim Parque, who won his first major league game in two years.

In the visiting clubhouse, contemplation. For a team in a pennant race this year, there is no room for sentiment and no consolation in losing to a pitcher completing a comeback from shoulder surgery, a pitcher still in search of his old fastball.

“I think everybody feels like this is a pitcher we probably should have gotten,” Tim Salmon said.

Parque got the best of the Angels on Thursday, holding them to two runs over 5 1/3 innings in the Chicago White Sox’s 3-2 victory. The Angels fell 3 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West, and their wild-card lead over the Boston Red Sox shrunk to a half-game.

Frank Thomas hit a two-run home run and Carlos Lee a solo shot for the White Sox, and four relievers got the final 11 outs in support of Parque, a former UCLA star.

In a season in which the Angels have climbed toward the top of the standings by punishing the teams beneath them, they were disappointed in losing two of three games to the White Sox and in losing to Parque.

“It’s frustrating,” Salmon said. “When you look at the teams we’re playing and the pitching we’re facing, this is one of the guys we felt we had to beat. But it didn’t happen, and you tip your hat to him.”

Nothing against Parque, mind you. The Angels simply saw a guy making his first major league start of the season, a guy who spent most of the year in the minors, a guy without the stuff to dominate them.

And he didn’t, really. In the first inning, three of the first five batters singled, and the Angels scored one run. In the second, Benji Gil hit a home run, and the Angels led, 2-0. In the fourth, the Angels loaded the bases with two out, but right fielder Magglio Ordonez made a sliding catch, robbing David Eckstein of a hit and ending the inning.

Chicago Manager Jerry Manuel allowed Parque to pitch long enough to become eligible for the victory, then turned the game over to the bullpen. On a night the Angels used four pinch-hitters, Manuel exploited matchups in a way Angel Manager Mike Scioscia cannot. That’s not Scioscia’s fault; the White Sox have three left-handed relievers and the Angels have only one, though they remain in search of another.

Aaron Sele took the loss, though the Angels were more than satisfied with his performance. Sele, heating up along with the pennant race, held the White Sox to three runs over seven innings.

Sele, billed as a consumer of innings when the Angels signed him to a $24-million contract last December, failed to pitch seven innings in any of his first seven starts. But he has pitched at least seven innings in six of his last eight starts; his earned-run average is 3.04 in that span and a season-low 4.57 overall.

“It sounds stupid, but it’s what I’ve been telling you guys all year--making quality pitches,” Sele said. “Early in the year, if I needed to get an out, I couldn’t always make that quality pitch to keep the game close. Instead of giving up three runs, it would be five. Now I’m making far more quality pitches.”

Parque and Angel third baseman Troy Glaus were teammates at UCLA and first-round picks in 1997, and each ascended to the majors in 1998. Parque became a fixture in the Chicago rotation, and by 2000 he won 13 games and started the first game of the playoffs against Seattle.

But he underwent shoulder surgery in 2001, spending most of last year in rehabilitation and most of this year at triple A. Parque’s fastball, which Glaus said was clocked between 89-92 mph at UCLA, now registers from 86-89 mph. But Glaus said he saw a smarter pitcher Thursday, with more confidence in his off-speed pitches.

Was he happy for his old teammate?

“Well,” Glaus said, “I’d rather beat him.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

WILD-CARD RACES

*--* AL W L GB Angels 67 47 -- Boston 66 47 1/2 Oakland 66 49 1 1/2

*--*

*--* NL W L GB Dodgers 64 51 -- San Francisco 63 51 1/2 Houston 59 54 4 Cincinnati 58 55 5

*--*