Mood Swing for Angels

This is the time of year something bad usually happens to the Angels, if it hasn’t already. Over the last decade, by curse or bad luck or whatever, some sort of doom befalls an Angel team in contention in August.

In 1995, for instance, the Angels lost shortstop Gary DiSarcina to injury as they coughed up an 11-game lead. In 1997, the Angels lost pitcher Chuck Finley and catcher Todd Greene to injury, and a playoff berth rapidly slipped away.

This might be the year the Angels overcome bad karma. On the day they received their annual dose of bad news at a bad time--pitcher Aaron Sele has a partially torn rotator cuff--they shrugged and beat the mighty New York Yankees. The Angel pitchers held off the Yankees for more than four hours Wednesday, until Scott Spiezio hit a game-winning home run in the 11th inning of a 5-1 victory that kept the Angels atop the American League West for at least another day.

“They’ve got plenty of wins,” Spiezio said. “We needed it more than them.”

Sele will not require surgery, and the Angels believe he can return in two to three weeks. In the meantime, and in a pennant race, they are likely to ask Mickey Callaway to make his first major league start in three years Saturday against the Boston Red Sox.

Logically, the Angels would be better off with an established major league starter such as Jeff Weaver, but you never know with this year’s resilient bunch. The Angels beat up on Weaver, who started the season as the Detroit Tigers’ ace before the Yankees decided they needed a surplus arm, traded for him and stashed him in the bullpen.

Weaver was roundly booed Wednesday after giving up four runs in the 11th inning. After the Angels got six hits through the first 10 innings, they got five off Weaver in the 11th, including the two-run homer from Spiezio that broke a 1-1 tie.

Ramon Ortiz pitched his best game in a month, holding the Yankees to one run over seven innings. Ortiz and relievers Brendan Donnelly, Scott Schoeneweis, Ben Weber and Troy Percival shut out the Yankees over the final 10 innings.

At 75-50, the Angels matched last season’s victory total, success due in no small measure to the good health of the starting rotation. Sele becomes the first Angel starter put onto the disabled list this season.

“We’ve known for two starts he needed this,” Percival said. “If we can get him healthy in two to three weeks, that makes us a better team than we are with him pitching at 50%.”

Sele said he did not regret trying to pitch through some discomfort. He complained about it after walking seven in Tuesday’s 7-5 loss.

Said Sele: “I wouldn’t have taken the mound if I didn’t feel I could pitch.... I didn’t have pain in the front shoulder like I did after the game until [Tuesday], but I haven’t felt 100% for a while. That’s part of pitching.”

Sele received a cortisone shot to reduce inflammation in the shoulder, and he will begin a strengthening program. “We’re confident he’ll have an opportunity to pitch again this season,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said.

For immediate help, the Angels recalled left-hander Mark Lukasiewicz from triple-A Salt Lake. They can adjust their roster again before Sunday, when Sele’s turn in the rotation comes up.

In addition to Callaway, who is 9-2 with a 1.68 earned-run average at Salt Lake, the Angels can recall Lou Pote or try relievers Schoeneweis, Al Levine or Scot Shields as starters. Scioscia also said the Angels could skip the fifth starter’s spot when off days allow.

No player acquired after Aug. 31 is eligible for postseason play, but the Angels won’t know by then whether Sele can return on schedule, or at all. Nonetheless, General Manager Bill Stoneman said he has not pursued a trade for a starter.

Said Stoneman: “I would think the solution, right now, would come from within.”