Angels Falter in Long Run

If the Angels lose out on a playoff spot by one game, this might be the one game that pains them most.

On a night that the Minnesota Twins all but ceded victory, the Angels blew a five-run lead and collapsed Thursday. Their offense ground to a halt, their starting pitcher gave back a bunch of runs in a big inning and their bullpen failed to preserve a two-run lead with six outs to go. The end was almost anticlimactic but fitting nonetheless, a 7-6 defeat concluded on a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning.

“I feel like we let this one slip away,” Angel center fielder Darin Erstad said.

The Twins scored the tying run in the eighth inning against closer Troy Percival, who entered a game before the ninth inning for the first time this season. But the Angels ought to have pummeled the Twins to such a degree that Percival never would have bothered warming up.

The Twins used five relievers Wednesday, when a stiff neck and headache forced starter Rick Reed to depart in the second inning. They activated ace Brad Radke Thursday, but after getting one out he aggravated the strained groin that had forced him onto the disabled list.

So, for the second consecutive night, the Minnesota bullpen would patch and pitch virtually all of the game. And, after scoring in each of the first three innings, the Angels led, 5-0.

“This one hurts,” catcher Jorge Fabregas said. “We have a five-run lead, their best pitcher went down, and they used up their bullpen the night before.

“You figure you could chalk one up. But those guys are feisty, and they’re tough.”

Scott Schoeneweis, who said his trademark sinker was out of order Thursday, shut out the Twins for the first four innings. But, despite that five-run lead, Schoeneweis could not escape the fifth inning before the Angels had the bullpen warming up and the Twins scored four times.

In the meantime, the offense turned dormant. As the Twins used five relievers for the second consecutive night, the Angels scored once in the final seven innings, on a sacrifice fly. They stranded 12 runners, six in scoring position.

“We scored enough runs to win,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “I don’t think you can point to our offense and say that was the reason for the loss.”

The relievers did not shine. Schoeneweis got the first two outs in the seventh inning and Ben Weber the third, and the Angels handed a 6-4 lead to Dennis Cook in the eighth inning.

Cook faced one batter, David Ortiz, who doubled. Al Levine replaced Cook and faced four batters. The first two hit about 800 feet worth of fly balls, each to the deepest of center field. Ortiz took third base on the first fly ball and scored on the second. Levine then gave up successive singles.

With the tying and go-ahead runs on base, Scioscia made the rare call of summoning Percival in the eighth inning. In 57 games last season, Percival pitched more than one inning six times.

Percival finished the eighth and worked a scoreless ninth, but hardly with ease. He threw a season-high 41 pitches, 21 of them balls. He walked three, nearly hit three and threw a wild pitch. He gave up a game-tying single to Cristian Guzman in the eighth inning and walked the potential winning run into scoring position in the ninth, then got Ortiz and Jacque Jones to pop up and struck out Corey Koskie.

With his curve missing the strike zone, and with Percival looking for a strikeout, he threw fastballs on 16 of his final 17 pitches, clocked from 94 to 97 mph.

As Ortiz walked in the hallway adjacent to the Angel clubhouse, he shook his head and muttered in disbelief about Percival. “He don’t need no breaking ball,” Ortiz said.

On this night, he and the rest of the Angel relievers simply needed a break. Lou Pote, the sixth Angel pitcher, took the loss. Minnesota closer Eddie Guardado, the sixth Twin pitcher, worked two scoreless innings for the victory.