Angels Unable to Break Their Fall

The Angels lost to Pedro Martinez, and so what? Everyone loses to Pedro Martinez. As one game out of 162, no big deal.

As the third loss in four games, on a trip in which a playoff berth appears to be an increasingly distant goal, defeat can be a big deal indeed. It is disturbing enough that the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners have jumped ahead of the Angels in the American League West standings this week.

Thanks to Martinez and his 4-1 victory Friday, his Boston Red Sox are close enough to the Angels in the wild-card standings that the Sox could jump ahead of the Angels by Sunday.

There is a sense of urgency about the series, at least for the home team. While Boston Manager Grady Little said that “everyone knows what’s at stake in a series like this,” the Angels pretty much stuck to the season-long mantra that no one game is more important than the next, that they need to win no matter who the opponent is.

But, said second baseman Adam Kennedy: “When we’re struggling like this, you’ve got to try to stay afloat, stay around the top and stay within reach to make a run in September. We don’t want to get four or five games back.”

The Angels are in third place in the division, two games behind the A’s, winners of 10 consecutive games. The Red Sox crept within 1 1/2 games of the Angels in the wild-card race.

This one was not pretty, except for the artistry of Martinez.

Angel ace Jarrod Washburn gave up a season-high 11 hits, including one broken-bat single on which he barely dodged the broken bat.

Kennedy let a pop fly drop, he said, because he believed the voice yelling “I got it” belonged to right fielder Orlando Palmeiro. Actually, in cozy Fenway Park, the voice was that of a fan. Palmeiro retrieved the ball and forced a runner at second base.

“It’s funny now, because the run didn’t score,” Kennedy said.

Martinez dominated the Angels, again. In two starts against the Angels this year, he is 2-0 with a 0.56 earned-run average, with one walk and 16 strikeouts in 16 innings.

Nothing against the Angels, mind you. Martinez has the best record and the best ERA in the league, at 17-3 and 2.15. In his last 39 innings at Fenway, he has given up one earned run, a home run by Troy Glaus in the seventh inning Friday.

But knuckleballer Tim Wakefield pitches today, an unpleasant prospect for the Angels at any time and particularly at a time Tim Salmon is on the disabled list. Wakefield followed Martinez in Anaheim too, and the Angels lost both games without scoring off either starter.

To replace Salmon in the No. 3 spot, Angel Manager Mike Scioscia has employed a platoon of Palmeiro and first baseman Scott Spiezio. The No. 3 spot traditionally is filled by the best hitter on the team, but Scioscia isn’t sure that bumping Garret Anderson up from the cleanup spot would necessarily jump-start the offense.

“I don’t think that part of the lineup is where the breakdown is,” Scioscia said.

The Angels are 10-3 with Palmeiro batting third, 3-2 with Spiezio hitting third. But aside from the 11th inning Wednesday, when the Angels scored four runs, they are two for 24 with men in scoring position over the last 36 innings.

Spiezio is hitting a team-high .327 with men in scoring position this season, and Palmeiro is at .283, but catcher Bengie Molina is at .255, Kennedy is at .232 and designated hitter Brad Fullmer is at .210.

Washburn (15-5) lost successive starts for the first time this season, but he saved himself from a dangerous flying object, and for that the Angels are grateful. In the sixth inning, as Rickey Henderson got a bloop single, Washburn fell onto his rear end dodging a jagged half of a broken bat.