Appier Gets Early Shower

This could have been a glorious evening for the Angels. Seattle lost, so the Angels could have tied the Mariners atop the American League West with a victory. But the Angels lost too, and they left Edison Field concerned about whether one of their starting pitchers can withstand the rigors of the pennant race.

There’s nothing seriously wrong with Kevin Appier, or so the Angels insist. But Appier lost his fourth consecutive start Tuesday, failing to survive the fifth inning of a 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates’ second baseman, Pokey Reese, doubled twice, singled and drove in four runs. The Angels’ second baseman, Adam Kennedy, doubled, tripled and wondered anew whether he is no better than a platoon player in the eyes of his manager.

Appier complained of a tired arm after his previous start. Athletic trainer Ned Bergert and medical director Lewis Yocum cleared him to pitch, suggesting a modification in his delivery that would enable him to throw a breaking ball with less of the forearm stiffness he had experienced. That worked, Appier said, and he pitched without discomfort, but during Tuesday’s game he discovered another flaw in his delivery, this one with his shoulder.

After pitching into the sixth inning in seven consecutive starts, Appier has failed to do so in his last two. He pitched 2 2/3 innings Thursday and 4 2/3 innings Tuesday. He faced 24 batters, half of whom reached base, on 10 hits, one walk and one hit batter.

“It’s certainly not a major mechanical thing,” he said. “It’s a fine-tuning thing. But I’ve gone through about three different fine-tunings.”

He will have time for more. Appier will have six days of rest, and the possibility of extra sessions with pitching coach Bud Black, before his next start. The Angels are not delaying Appier’s next start; they have days off Thursday and Monday.

Kennedy had extended his hitting streak to six games and lifted his batting average to .293 when Manager Mike Scioscia removed him for pinch-hitter Benji Gil in the seventh inning.

“I was surprised, but what are you going to do?” Kennedy said.

The Pirates had replaced starter Josh Fogg with left-hander Scott Sauerbeck, who holds left-handed batters to a .128 average.

“Sauerbeck is tough on lefties,” Scioscia said. “That doesn’t preclude Adam from hitting against lefties.”

Scioscia said 12 days ago that Kennedy would have a chance to play every day so long as he kept hitting. In 36 at-bats against left-handers, he is hitting .222. He has not started the last two games against left-handers and, with Gil activated from the disabled list, Kennedy fears that Scioscia is returning to the platoon he used in the second half of last season.

“We pretty much know what he’s going to do,” Kennedy said. “It’s been that way for a while. It doesn’t seem to be any different right now. I’ll just keep plugging away.”

With the Rally Monkey jumping furiously on the video board, and with the fans cheering even without the message board telling them to do so, the Angels came roaring back from a 4-0 deficit.

In the fifth inning, Kennedy tripled and scored. In the seventh, Brad Fullmer and Scott Spiezio hit successive home runs.

Appier was in trouble in every inning. In the first inning, right fielder Tim Salmon helped Appier with a nice sliding catch of a line drive. In the second inning, the Pirates scored twice, on a two-run homer by Kevin Young, after Aramis Ramirez was hit by an Appier pitch.

In the third, after the Pirates got consecutive singles, the Angels turned a double play behind Appier. In the fourth, the Pirates took a 3-0 lead, on consecutive doubles. In the fifth, Appier gave up another run, and three more hits, before Scioscia had seen enough.

“I’ve been in kind of a funk lately, in conjunction with having some bad luck,” Appier said. “That’s a bad combo.”