Angels Find Their Own Level

MIAMI -- David Eckstein walked out of the Angel clubhouse Friday with his left hand wrapped in a large bandage. On this day, that was the good news.

“Thank God there’s nothing broken,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

The news on the field? Same old story. The season is 10 weeks old, and the Angels are consistent only in their inconsistency.

After a 4-1 loss to the Florida Marlins, the Angels are 29-29, at .500 for the seventh time in the last 30 days. On this four-city trip, against teams a combined 37 1/2 games out of first place, the Angels are 5-5.

Eckstein, the Angels’ shortstop and leadoff hitter, was hit and bruised by a line drive during batting practice. He won’t know whether he can play tonight until he tries to grip a bat today.

Center fielder Jeff DaVanon replaced Eckstein atop the batting order and got two hits. But the Angels got four hits in all, sending Kevin Appier to defeat on a night he deserved better.

The Marlins, after all, got three hits. But the Angels had no extra-base hits, and the Marlins had two home runs.

“That was the margin between winning and losing,” Scioscia said. As the Angels are learning, that margin is uncomfortably small for a .500 club.

The Angels exhausted themselves in a 14-inning loss in muggy San Juan on Thursday night, flew to Miami and arrived at their hotel around 5 a.m. While some pitchers fly ahead of the team on the day before a start, so they can get a good night’s rest, Appier was starting to stretch in the Angel bullpen at midnight Thursday, getting ready for a possible appearance had that game extended into the 15th or 16th inning.

But Appier and his teammates refused to blame fatigue for defeat Friday, even on another steamy evening, with the temperature at game time 85 degrees.

Still, the Angels scored once in the first inning -- DaVanon singled, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly -- and went quietly thereafter.

Florida starter Carl Pavano, perhaps best known as a top prospect traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Montreal Expos in the Pedro Martinez deal, pitched brilliantly. He scattered one run and three hits over eight innings, retiring the final 18 hitters he faced.

Angel third baseman Troy Glaus struck out twice Friday and has seven strikeouts in his last 13 at-bats.

Even in defeat, Appier pitched well enough to rescue an Angel bullpen exhausted by the extra-inning endurance test Thursday. He pitched seven innings, facing one batter over the minimum in the first five innings. In the third inning, Alex Gonzalez homered, tying the score, 1-1.

In the sixth, Juan Pierre led off with a walk and Luis Castillo used his first-class speed to beat out an infield single, a little chopper to shortstop.

“Pretty good chip shot,” Appier said.

Ivan Rodriguez then hit a pretty good drive, a three-run homer that traveled 435 feet, off a 78-mph curve that barely broke. The Marlins led, 4-1, and did not get a hit thereafter.

Eckstein got hit before the game. He was minding his own business, taking ground balls at shortstop during batting practice, when he saw a line drive hit by Garret Anderson screaming in his direction. He instinctively put his arms up, protecting his face, and the ball crashed into the bottom part of his left hand.

Eckstein admitted the thought of a broken bone, and with it a trip to the disabled list, crept into his mind. The timing would have been particularly unfortunate for the Angels, since triple-A shortstop Alfredo Amezaga already is on the disabled list because of a strained hamstring. However, as the swelling went down and discoloration appeared, Eckstein sensed the hand was bruised but not broken, even before X-rays confirmed it.

“I get hit by so many pitches,” he said, “so I know that’s a good sign when I get black and blue.”