Angels Show Little Sizzle

On the first day of July, the Angels were rolling merrily along, half a game out of a playoff spot. By the Fourth of July, the Angels were sputtering, their offense temporarily out of order and their slugging third baseman injured.

For the home team, there was nothing festive about Thursday’s holiday. In a game with an absence of clutch hitting and an excess of sloppy fielding and inadequate relief pitching, the Angels lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 7-2, before a sellout crowd of 43,342 at Edison Field.

“It was a bad game all the way around,” Angel starter Kevin Appier said.

The Angels lost two of three games to the sub-.500 Orioles and lost for the sixth time in 11 games. They fell five games behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West, their largest deficit since May 18. The Angels also dropped 3 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the wild-card standings.

“If we’re going to contend with Seattle and Oakland later on, we need to win games like this and series like this,” second baseman Adam Kennedy said.

“There’s always a concern if you get too far behind,” infielder Scott Spiezio said. “We’re not there right now. But it would be nice to put together a little bit of a streak.”

For the Angels, the most immediate concern is the condition of third baseman Troy Glaus, who left the game in the sixth inning after aggravating an injury. Glaus suffered a mildly sprained left ankle Wednesday, when he crashed into an advertising panel while chasing a pop foul, although he did not come out of that game.

The Angels listed Glaus, who leads the team in runs scored and is tied for the team lead in home runs, as day-to-day. Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said Glaus was not sent for X-rays on the injured ankle.

“He just tweaked it a little bit,” Scioscia said. “He’ll be OK.”

If Glaus is seriously injured, the Angels could recall Shawn Wooten from his minor league rehabilitation assignment.

The Angels were shut out by 26-year-old rookie Rodrigo Lopez Tuesday and were nearly shut out by 30-year-old rookie Travis Driskill Thursday. They have failed to score in 30 of their last 32 innings.

They went one for 12 with men in scoring position Thursday and two for 25 in the series.

“We haven’t been effective with runners in scoring position, certainly,” Scioscia said. “Consequently, we’re not scoring runs.”

Scott Spiezio, who moved from first base to third after Glaus left the game, made a terrific defensive play at first base but made one error at third and could have been charged with another. Right fielder Tim Salmon tried but failed to make a sliding catch of a line drive. The Angels guessed correctly on a pitchout, but Jorge Fabregas could not get the ball out of his glove in time to throw the runner out.

In one inning, the Orioles stole three bases against Fabregas and reliever Lou Pote.

The Angels needed four relievers to get the final eight outs. Scot Shields retired the side in order in the ninth inning, but seven of 11 batters reached base against the trio of Pote, Scott Schoeneweis and Dennis Cook.

Appier pitched valiantly and certainly better than his numbers indicated. But those numbers--five runs given up over 6 1/3 innings--boosted his earned-run average to a season-high 4.69.

“I was far from perfect,” Appier said, “but I didn’t really throw horribly.”

In his first nine starts this season, Appier went 5-1 with a 2.96 ERA. In the eight starts since, he is 1-6 with a 7.09 ERA.

The Angels trailed, 3-0, after six innings, in no small part because Appier got a pop fly and a strikeout after the Orioles had runners on second and third with one out in the second inning.

In the seventh inning, Appier gave up two singles, one that caromed off the glove of Spiezio. The Angels summoned Schoeneweis, who gave up a double that allowed both inherited runners to score.