Angels Still Out of Step

The dance routine has become all too familiar to the Angels: one step forward, two steps back. The accompanying sound track -- or is that a broken record? -- has been playing for two months now, the Angels falling deeper into a frustrating pattern of going good for four or five days and falling flat the next four or five days.

Whether it’s injuries, a lack of clutch hitting or inconsistent pitching, the Angels have been unable to sustain the kind of momentum needed to make a push to the top of the American League West, a destination that grew even more distant with Monday night’s 6-1 loss to the Texas Rangers before 42,040 in Angel Stadium.

After scoring 27 runs during a three-game win streak against Texas and Seattle last week, the Angels have lost two in a row, scoring three runs against the Mariners and Rangers and falling five games behind Texas in the division.

The Angels won five of six against Chicago and Toronto heading into the All-Star break and then lost five of seven to start the second half. They won four of six against Oakland and the Dodgers from June 21-26 and then lost six of their next seven to the same two teams.

They won three in a row over Boston and Cleveland from June 1-3 and then lost 10 of their next 13. And so it goes for an Angel team that was picked by many to win the division but has been on the fringe -- instead of in the thick -- of the division race for the last month or so.

“It’s been a tough year, but you have to find a way to put it together and be more consistent as a team,” said Angel pitcher Kelvim Escobar, who took the loss Monday night. “If we do that, if we pitch and hit, we’re going to have success. It’s been hard because we have some guys down, but you still have to play the game hard, the right way. We’re trying. Believe me, we’re trying.”

The Angels played Monday night without injured cleanup batter Vladimir Guerrero, and No. 3 hitter Garret Anderson was limited to an eighth-inning pinch-hit appearance because of a groin injury, leaving them with a third-string catcher (Josh Paul) in left field and a .248-hitting designated hitter (Tim Salmon) in the No. 3 spot.

There was some snap and crackle to the offense, but no pop. Though the Angels out-hit the Rangers, 13-8, 11 of those hits were singles, many of them grounders through the infield. The Angels went two for 14 with runners in scoring position.

They loaded the bases against starter Ryan Drese (7-5) in the second, but Adam Kennedy flied out. After Jose Guillen’s run-scoring single in the fifth, they had runners on first and second when Darin Erstad grounded out to end the inning. They had two on with one out in the eighth but couldn’t score, Anderson striking out looking to end the threat.

Twice, the Angels had a runner on second with no outs, in the third and seventh innings, and both times they failed to score. In Sunday’s loss to Seattle, two Angels who led off innings with doubles failed to score.

“You’re not going to get it done all the time, but these are situations we’ve been very consistent in,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We didn’t get it done the last two games, and it’s had an effect. A couple runs we pick up early, that could make a difference. That’s definitely something you have to do when your production is not coming from the home run. You have to play sound, fundamental baseball.”

The Rangers, meanwhile, broke out the mash unit, raking Escobar (5-8) for two home runs -- Michael Young’s leadoff blast in the first and Gary Matthews’ three-run shot in the fifth -- and four doubles.

In their last 11 games, 53 of the Rangers’ 97 hits have gone for extra bases.

Escobar compounded his problems by walking Brian Jordan before Laynce Nix’s two-run double in the fourth and David Dellucci before Matthews’ homer in the fifth, and Drese took advantage of the support, giving up one run and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings for his second win over the Angels in six days.