Percival and Angels Take It to the Limit

There is no such thing as a sure thing for the Angels, not this year.

Four-run lead, three outs to go, closer on the mound, against possibly the worst major league team ever assembled?

The Angels very nearly coughed it up. Troy Percival exhausted himself, making a mighty fine mess and then cleaning it up, and the reeling Angels escaped with a 10-7 victory over the Detroit Tigers. After the game, Percival revealed he had recently considered -- and rejected -- surgery to fix his troublesome hip and reiterated that next season could be his last.

The anatomy of a mess: Percival walked the bases loaded, nearly gave up a game-tying grand slam, walked one more, then huffed and puffed and somehow got the third out.

“I stunk, plain and simple,” he said.

The Tigers endured their 95th defeat of the season, on pace for 122, two more than the record set by Casey Stengel’s expansion New York Mets of 1962. The Tigers have lost 12 consecutive games to the Angels. For the third time this season, the Tigers have a nine-game losing streak.

“I can guarantee you 100% it’ll end, sometime,” Detroit catcher Brandon Inge said. “It has to.”

The same is true for Percival’s career. His contract expires after next season. By then, he should pass the 300-save mark. At 305 saves, he would pass the retired Jeff Montgomery of the Kansas City Royals as the leader among closers who recorded all their saves for one team.

Percival, 34, a four-time All-Star, got the final out of the division series, league championship series and World Series last year.

“I’m pitching to get myself back into top form,” he said. “I’ve got the rest of this year and next year. I want to be the best I can be.”

His career appeared in jeopardy in May, when he was diagnosed with a degenerative hip. Doctors presented a range of treatment options, and he considered season-ending surgery.

Instead, he opted for therapy. At the same time, he revamped his delivery, eliminating his high leg kick to reduce pressure on the hip. He has pitched well since, but he said Thursday that the hip flared up in recent weeks and doctors again suggested surgery, which could have been deferred to the off-season.

Ultimately, as he incorporated stretching into his strengthening program, the discomfort in the hip diminished, and he said the hip felt fine Thursday.

“This is the first time my hip hasn’t bothered me in a while,” he said.

The Tigers aren’t much of a bother, either. The Angels have scored 10 or more runs in each of their last three games against Detroit -- and in three of their last 69 against all other opponents. Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon had three hits apiece, Jeff DaVanon hit his first home run since June 30, and every starter except No. 9 batter Alfredo Amezaga drove in a run.

But starting pitcher Aaron Sele slogged through six innings, giving up five runs, hitting two batters and striking out none. Against the Tigers, that was good enough, and Sele recorded his first victory since July 10.

Percival, whose erratic workload reflects the Angels’ erratic season, pitched for the first time in six days. He threw 39 pitches, his highest total since May 30, 2002. He threw 21 balls.

In a non-save situation, he figured he might work on his breaking ball. He could barely throw a fastball for a strike, fighting his delivery with every pitch.

“I made some really bad adjustments,” he said. “My stride was a foot too long.”

He walked three, got a strikeout and a sacrifice fly that missed being a grand slam by a few feet, walked one more, then got a game-ending ground ball.

By then, he said, he had unintentionally made his adjustment. He was too tired, he said, to overthrow.

“By that time,” he said, “I was so out of gas.”