Angels Lack Clout

This is not a crisis, not in this era of the wild card. But, 10 days from now, the Angels could be all but hopelessly out of the race for the American League West championship.

They blew a 3-0 lead to the Seattle Mariners on Monday, losing, 6-3, and falling a season-high 11 1/2 games out of first place. The Angels, blessed by a schedule that provides seven games in 11 days against the first-place Mariners, fumbled away the first of those seven games before 41,599 at Safeco Field.

“We’d like to take a minimum of five games,” closer Troy Percival said. “If we go 4-3, we only pick up one game. We’d like to cut the lead to five or six games going into the All-Star break.”

On the day the Angels fielded their projected lineup for the first time since April 6, the Angels scored three runs in the first inning and none thereafter. On the day after they got one hit against Steve Trachsel of the New York Mets, they got three hits in the first inning and two thereafter against Joel Pineiro, who retired 16 consecutive batters from the third inning through the eighth.

The game was a microcosm of a maddeningly inconsistent season, one in which the defending World Series champions never have risen more than three games above .500 or slipped more than four games below .500.

For all the frustration, the Angels are 4 1/2 games behind in the wild-card race, and it is difficult to envision their falling so quickly that they would sell off veterans before the July 31 trading deadline. It is also difficult, however, to envision their climbing so quickly that General Manager Bill Stoneman feels compelled to trade for help for a playoff push.

Last season, with the Angels 20 games over .500 and two games out of first place at the deadline, Stoneman fortified the roster by trading for veteran outfielder Alex Ochoa.

“Is that the type of thing we’ll do if we’re further back than we were last year? Maybe not,” Stoneman said.

Stoneman said he sees no urgency to upgrade any part of a team built not on several stars and several weak links but on a roster full of solid performers.

“It’s pretty hard to point a finger and say, ‘Here’s something we should do,’ ” he said.

He reiterated that, standings aside, he believes the roster remains championship-caliber.

“We’re good enough to be in this thing,” he said. “We haven’t been consistent enough to be in it. But we’re talented enough to be in it.”

The Angels, so optimistic about finally fielding their preferred lineup, had a 3-0 lead six batters into the game. But if there is to be a turning point this season, this game will not be the one.

The Mariners tied the score in the fourth inning, on a single by Edgar Martinez and a two-run homer by John Olerud. The hit was the 2,000th of Olerud’s career, and the Seattle native received a standing ovation and took a curtain call.

Seattle’s Mike Cameron then hit two home runs, a solo shot off starter John Lackey in the sixth inning, putting the Mariners ahead for good, and a two-run shot off reliever Francisco Rodriguez in the eighth.

And so the Angels lost the first of those seven games against Seattle. While Percival suggested that winning four of seven wouldn’t help much, outfielder Tim Salmon noted that the Mariners are the best team in the major leagues right now.

A championship can be lost in the middle of June, but it cannot be won now. More than wins and losses, Salmon said, these seven games are an opportune time to start displaying the consistency necessary to make those September games meaningful.

“If we go 4-3, that’s pretty good,” Salmon said. “I don’t think you come back from seven games all at once. You just peck away, pick up one game a week and carry that through the summer.

“It’s not just about playing great baseball the next 10 days. We need to play good baseball the rest of the way.”

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ANGELS

BY NUMBERS

Record...34-33

Current streak...0-2

Last trip...7-5

vs. LH start...10-9

vs. RH start...24-24

Extra innings...0-2

Score first...25-11

W-L last at-bat...1-4

NO. OF DAYS

1st place...4

2nd place...10

3rd place...57

4th place...5

BY MONTH

March 2003...0-1

March 2002...0-1

April 2003...13-13

April 2002...11-13

May 2003...13-13

May 2002...19-7

June 2003...8-6

June 2002...17-12

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Slow Starters

Angel starter John Lackey’s record fell to 4-6 Monday in a 6-3 loss to Seattle. A look at the Angels’ win-loss record by starting pitcher:

*--* Starter Team rec Pct Kevin Appier 7-3 700 Ramon Ortiz 8-6 571 Aaron Sele 4-4 500 Mickey Callaway 2-2 500 Scot Shields 1-1 500 Jarrod Washburn 6-8 429 John Lackey 6-9 400 Total 34-33 507

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