Angels Strand, Don’t Deliver

The Angels suffered a dizzying array of injuries in the first two months of this season, going long stretches without key players such as Garret Anderson, Darin Erstad, Troy Glaus, Tim Salmon and Brendan Donnelly, and their mantra throughout was, “Let’s keep our heads above water until everyone gets back.”

They did that and more, holding on to first place in the American League West from May 4 to June 8. But now that everyone but Glaus has been back for a few weeks, the Angels aren’t even treading water. In fact, at the rate they’re sinking, they’re going to need oxygen tanks pretty soon.

The Oakland Athletics completed a three-game sweep of the Angels with a 7-3 victory in front of 22,114 in Network Associates Coliseum on Thursday, handing the Angels their sixth loss in their last eight games and their 17th loss in their last 25 games dating to June 4.

Angel pitcher Jarrod Washburn’s string of 15 consecutive scoreless innings came to a crashing halt when the left-hander gave up home runs to Bobby Kielty, Bobby Crosby, Jermaine Dye and Damian Miller, and the Angels were one for 16 with runners in scoring position.

The Angels banged out 12 hits, wasted a four-hit game by second baseman Adam Kennedy, and left 14 runners on base. Nine were stranded by first baseman Robb Quinlan, a last-minute lineup substitution for Darin Erstad, who was scratched because of a finger injury.

They also lost to a finesse pitcher -- former Cal State Fullerton standout Kirk Saarloos -- who had a 5.81 earned run average in six triple-A starts but blanked the Angels on five hits over five innings in his first major league start of the season.

“This is a little bit long for a [down] cycle,” Washburn said. “We haven’t been playing good baseball for a long time now. I know we’re capable of turning it around, but I don’t think we can afford to play baseball like this for much longer.”

Anderson, the Angels’ cleanup batter, has been back for three weeks and is batting .338; Vladimir Guerrero is having one of baseball’s best seasons, with a .342 average, 19 home runs and 69 runs batted in; Jose Guillen ranks seventh in the league with 56 RBIs; and Chone Figgins, Glaus’ replacement, is batting .308 with a league-leading 11 triples.

But for some reason, the sum of the Angel offense has not been greater than its parts. They either can’t get leadoff runners on often enough or can’t come up with the clutch hits when they get runners on.

They’ve made a few mistakes on the basepaths and haven’t been as good a situational hitting team as they were in April and May. Some days, the starting pitching is good and the bullpen breaks down. Thursday, Washburn put the Angels in too deep a hole.

“We’re all trying hard, and when you’re not succeeding, they call it pressing,” Kennedy said. “Today, it was not getting the hit with guys on base. The last couple days, we haven’t been getting the leadoff guy on. The offense hasn’t gotten rolling. It’s hard to wait for the three-run home run from the guys in the middle of the order. Just because they do that a lot, doesn’t mean we can expect it.”

Manager Mike Scioscia said he doesn’t believe the Angels have been “sitting back, waiting for the three-run home run.” But they’ve been waiting for something.

“Now that we’re getting guys back in the lineup, everyone thought a switch was going to go on,” Scioscia said. “But that switch only goes on when you play consistent baseball and put pressure on other clubs. You can’t just think the good times are going to roll. You have to get after it each at-bat.”

At least they showed some spark Thursday. After two-run homers by Dye and Miller gave the A’s a 6-0 lead in the sixth, the Angels rallied for three runs in the seventh, scoring on Jose Molina’s home run, Guerrero’s fielder’s choice and Anderson’s single, the team’s only hit with runners in scoring position.

But the Angels left the bases loaded against relievers Justin Lehr in the sixth and Chad Bradford in the seventh, Guerrero hit a first-pitch groundout with two on and two out to end the eighth, and the Angels failed to score after putting the first two runners on against closer Octavio Dotel in the ninth.

“Our numbers with runners in scoring position” -- .274 on the season -- “have been a little soft for some time now,” Scioscia said. “We’re searching for consistency. It’s within this club, and we’re going to get it out of these guys.”