Bottom Continues Its Feeding on the Angels

When the Angels compiled their wish list before last month’s trading deadline, it went something like this:

Bench help? Want some. Bullpen help? Want some. Another starting pitcher? Don’t need one.

Now? The Angels still say they don’t need one, but Ramon Ortiz showed few signs of escaping his monthlong funk Friday. Ortiz lost again, and so did the Angels, in a sloppy and disheartening 5-4 defeat to the Toronto Blue Jays before 18,728 at SkyDome.

The Angels lost their third consecutive game on a trip in which they wanted to beat up on the bottom feeders in the American League. After Troy Glaus was called out on strikes for the final out, Glaus uncharacteristically argued long and loud with home plate umpire Doug Eddings.

“That officially gave us no more chance to win the game,” Glaus said. “That was the frustration.”

That was the final act on an evening in which the Angels bore little resemblance to a championship-caliber club. Orlando Palmeiro forgot the number of outs while running the bases. Ortiz dropped a ball while covering first base. Scott Schoeneweis fielded a bunt and nearly threw the ball into right field. Adam Kennedy dropped the ball while trying to tag a runner. The Angels grounded into two double plays and went two for 12 with runners in scoring position.

“We didn’t play a real crisp ballgame, and we paid a price for it,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said.

The Angels lead the American League in one-run victories, but they lost by one run Wednesday and Thursday in Chicago and Friday here.

Since Benji Gil plopped a cigar in his mouth and joked that he was “trying to get into smoking shape for when we win the pennant,” the Angels have lost seven of 12 games and fallen from a percentage-points lead in the AL West to a 3 1/2-game deficit. Attention baseball gods: Gil was joking.

“We’ve been playing so well for quite a while. This is just a little lull,” outfielder Darin Erstad said. “But we can’t afford to have it continue. We need to go out and play a good game tomorrow.

“We’re still confident, but we need to right the ship in a hurry.”

To lose to the Yankees is one thing. To lose to a rebuilding Toronto team, one that fielded a lineup Friday with four hitters and a starting pitcher who opened the season in the minor leagues, is quite another.

Ortiz gave up a season-high 10 hits in only five innings. He was the only Angel starter to pitch at least six innings in every start before the All-Star break.

But, in his six starts since the All-Star break, he has pitched six innings only twice. He has given up 48 hits over 27 innings in that span, with a 1-3 record and 8.19 earned-run average.

“I don’t know, man,” Ortiz said. “I don’t know what happened. I felt good. I threw a lot of very good pitches, and they hit them.”

Scioscia and pitching coach Bud Black attributed Ortiz’s troubles to a delivery flaw, one that was addressed in a between-starts workout. Scioscia said Ortiz took “baby steps forward” in righting himself Friday. He threw more strikes--he struck out seven and walked one--but the Blue Jays sensed plenty of first-pitch fastballs were coming and attacked accordingly.

Scioscia said Ortiz will make his next start Wednesday. The Angels then have two of the next five days off, and Scioscia did not rule out skipping Ortiz in the rotation at that time to allow him extra work with Black.

Scioscia has said he would consider adjusting the rotation in the final weeks of the season, skipping less productive pitchers and favoring matchups in key games. For now, he is hoping for better from Ortiz.

“This is obviously the toughest stretch he’s had this season,” Scioscia said. “Let’s see how his numbers are at the end of the season. There’s nothing that gives us the idea he’s not going to come out of this.”