Angels Lose Some Ground

When Saturday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox began, the Angels were in the thick of a pennant race, in need of a victory to remain a game behind the Oakland Athletics in the American League West.

By the time the ninth inning rolled around, the Angels looked like a team playing out the September string, their lineup featuring Adam Riggs in left field, Dallas McPherson at third, Casey Kotchman at first and Alfredo Amezaga, he of the .159 average and three career home runs, at shortstop and batting cleanup.

That pennant race will resume today, but for one night, the Angels looked as though they had no business being part of it. The White Sox scored eight runs off starter Aaron Sele in the second inning en route to a 13-6 victory before a crowd of 42,568 in Angel Stadium, a game that was so lopsided Angel Manager Mike Scioscia pulled all nine of his starters -- and his designated hitter -- by the ninth.

“We’re turning the page on this one,” Scioscia vowed afterward. “Unfortunately, everything is magnified this time of the year, but we have to move on.”

The Angels will probably move on without Sele in such a prominent role. Sele (8-3) was shelled for eight runs -- four earned -- and six hits in 1 2/3 innings as the Angels fell two games behind the A’s in the AL West and six games behind the Boston Red Sox in the wild-card race.

With 21 games remaining, it appears the Angels will have to win the division to reach the playoffs. And with each game growing in importance, the Angels can no longer tolerate Sele’s ineffectiveness.

The 34-year-old right-hander will probably be replaced in the rotation by Ramon Ortiz or Kevin Gregg.

Sele’s three-year, $24-million contract expires after the season and the Angels aren’t expected to re-sign him. So, it’s possible Saturday’s start was Sele’s last as an Angel.

A fond farewell, it wasn’t. The White Sox scored eight runs in the second, the most runs the Angels have allowed in an inning all season, and Sele was booed when Scioscia pulled him in favor of Ortiz.

“I didn’t hear the crowd,” Sele said afterward. “I don’t hear them either way.”

Sele’s defense, as much as his pitching, may have contributed to the vitriolic reaction. It’s one thing to give up hits, but it’s another thing to botch a routine play that enabled Chicago’s rally to grow from four runs to eight.

Timo Perez’s run-scoring single, Jamie Burke’s two-run single and Willie Harris’ run-scoring fielder’s choice -- a play on which second baseman Adam Kennedy dropped a throw at the bag for an error -- gave Chicago a 4-1 lead. Sele got Aaron Rowand to pop to second for the second out with runners on first and second.

No. 3 hitter Carlos Lee then popped a ball up near the plate, and catcher Bengie Molina drifted a few feet into foul territory, positioning himself for the catch.

But Sele, thinking Molina lost the ball in the twilight, rushed in from the mound and collided with Molina’s mitt as the ball dropped to the ground.

Instead of the third out, Sele was charged with an error. He walked Lee to load the bases, and Paul Konerko lined a three-run double into the left-field corner to make it 7-1.

“The ball was not very high, and we’ve had some issues with guys not seeing the ball,” Sele said of Lee’s popup. “Bengie took his mask off and stood there for a second, and I thought maybe he didn’t see it. I ran in, and by that time, he picked it up. I tried too hard to get the out. He had it, I had it, and we bumped into each other.”

Sele was pulled after Konerko’s hit, and Ross Gload, who had three hits, including a sixth-inning homer, and four runs batted in, greeted Ortiz with a run-scoring single. Leadoff batter Willie Harris added four hits, including a run-scoring single during a two-run third that gave Chicago a 10-1 lead.

“You give a team with that much offensive firepower five outs in an inning,” Scioscia said, “and you’re asking for trouble.”