Angels Struggle at the Plate Again

Whether they are highly regarded veterans, such as Kris Benson, Matt Clement or Ben Sheets, or relative unknowns, such as Victor Santos, Joe Dawley or Pete Munro, it does not seem to matter. Throw a pitcher --any pitcher -- on the mound these days, and chances are, he will shut down the Angels.

Manager Mike Scioscia tinkered with his lineup, hoping for a spark, but Munro, a journeyman right-hander who was released by Minnesota on June 1 and signed with Houston two days later, and three Astro relievers threw a wet blanket over the Angels in a 5-0 interleague victory in front of 38,328 at Minute Maid Park on Friday night.

Second baseman Jeff Kent had a run-scoring double and a two-run triple, and Jeff Bagwell provided the crowning blow, a monstrous home run to deep left-center field in the eighth inning off Angel reliever Brendan Donnelly, who was making his first appearance of the season.

Munro, whose fastball rarely tops 88 mph and whose slider will never be confused with that of Francisco Rodriguez, gave up three hits in 6 1/3 innings, and relievers Dan Miceli, Brad Lidge and Octavio Dotel completed the shutout, as the Astros ended a four-game losing streak and won for only the ninth time in 27 games.

The Angels have lost 15 of 22 games, and those bats that were so lethal in April and May have gone quiet. In their last 12 games, the Angels have scored 31 runs, an average of 2.6, and are batting .238 (105 for 441) with four home runs, 12 doubles and two triples.

They have been shut out in three of those games, and the road ahead is even more daunting: Today, they face Astro ace Roger Clemens, who is 29-8 with a 2.43 earned run average in 45 career starts against the Angels.

“I know some guys are up there trying to end the drought with one swing of the bat -- that’s not how it’s going to happen,” Scioscia said. “It’s going to happen with singles, walks, going first to third. We just haven’t centered pitches we should have, and consequently, we haven’t gotten the hits and made pitchers work hard for outs.”

That’s what has made this slump more vexing. The Angels won games against Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Oliver Perez this month, but they have lost games to mediocre pitchers such as Josh Fogg, Glendon Rusch and Munro, who replaced Brandon Duckworth in the Astro rotation and made only his second start for Houston.

“Right now we’re waiting for Vladdy and G.A. to get up,” Scioscia said, referring to Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson. “Our offense is more than that. It has to be more than that.”

The lack of runs has put a strain on Angel pitchers, and it showed Friday night. Right-hander Kelvim Escobar walked a season-high seven, and after escaping bases-loaded jams in the first (strikeout of Mike Lamb) and fourth (Craig Biggio fly ball to center) innings, he crumbled in the fifth and sixth.

Jose Vizcaino, who had four hits, singled to open the fifth and scored on Kent’s double to right-center, and Kent later scored on Jason Lane’s fielder’s choice. After retiring the first two batters in the sixth, Escobar gave up a single to Vizcaino, a walk to Lance Berkman and Kent’s two-run triple to left-center.

“It’s hard as a pitcher when your team is not scoring many runs,” Escobar said. “You try to keep the game where it is, but you put too much pressure on yourself to do too much, and you know one mistake can totally change the game.

“At times tonight, I was trying to be too fine. I’m not that kind of pitcher. I can attack any hitter with the stuff I have. I’m very aggressive. It’s, ‘Here it is, hit it.’ I didn’t do that tonight.”

There was one bright spot for the Angels. Donnelly, their All-Star set-up man who had been sidelined all season because of complications stemming from a broken nose and elbow tendinitis, finally made his 2004 debut, retiring Berkman on a fly to left, striking out Kent, giving up Bagwell’s homer and getting Lamb to fly to left.

The right-hander hit 92 mph with his fastball and mixed in some nice cut fastballs and changeups, and his delivery appeared smooth and sound. His wry sense of humor also remained intact.

“It felt good to be back,” Donnelly said. “I didn’t care about the home run. If it was a closer game, I don’t throw that 3-and-1 pitch to Bagwell. What did he hit it, 600 feet? G.A. said he had to duck to avoid the carom [off the facade in left-center].”