Finley Hits New Low in Another Angel Loss

This is how bad things are going for Steve Finley: After striking out in the second inning of Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Tropicana Field, the Angel center fielder tried to swipe the barrel of his bat in frustration, and missed.

Finley cradled the bat between his forearm and shoulder, sparing the embarrassment of dropping it, but his evening, as well as that of the Angels, spiraled downward from there.

In addition to going hitless in four at-bats with two strikeouts, lowering his average to .215, the normally sure-handed Finley bobbled two hits for errors that allowed Devil Ray runners to take extra bases, the first two-error game of Finley’s 17-year career.

Finley is now batting .195 (23 for 118) with four doubles, one home run and nine runs batted in since the All-Star break and was in no mood to discuss his struggles after Saturday’s game.

“There’s nothing to really talk about,” Finley said. “It’s the same old ... I just [stink] right now.”

There is nothing aromatic about the Angels; they’ve lost three straight games, they can’t seem to come up with a clutch hit, and their American League West lead over Oakland has been trimmed to a half-game.

The A’s and New York Yankees are also tied for the wild-card lead, so if both win today and the Angels are swept by the Devil Rays, the Angels would be out of first place and out of the playoff picture.

“We’re all pretty frustrated,” Angel second baseman Adam Kennedy said. “We can’t quite put it together.”

Pitcher Paul Byrd was kicking himself for relying too heavily on his slider in the third inning Saturday, when he gave up a two-run home run on an 0-and-2 breaking ball to Jorge Cantu and a two-run triple on a breaking ball to Jonny Gomes, which gave Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead.

Byrd also elevated a sixth-inning changeup to Pete Laforest in the sixth, and the backup catcher blasted it off the C-ring catwalk high above the right-field wall for a two-run homer and a 6-1 Devil Ray lead.

And the Angels were kicking themselves for not putting more pressure on Doug Waechter, a mediocre right-hander who entered with a 4-8 record and 5.03 earned run average but limited the Angels to three runs and seven hits in 7 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking none.

Casey Kotchman hit a solo home run in the second, but Waechter retired 17 of 18 batters before Kennedy’s one-out single in the eighth. Kennedy scored on Chone Figgins’ triple, and Figgins scored on Orlando Cabrera’s sacrifice fly to pull the Angels within 6-3.

But eager Angel slugger Vladimir Guerrero swung at reliever Joe Borowski’s first pitch and grounded to short to end the inning. Guerrero, who is 10 for 42 (.238) with one RBI since hitting career home run No. 299 on Aug. 14, saw five pitches in four at-bats Saturday, making three first-pitch outs.

“I sure hope he’s not pressing for that 300th home run,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He’s an aggressive swinger, he got some good balls to hit and didn’t center them. We’ve got to do a little better job with our offense.”

How long that offense will continue to include Finley, even on a part-time basis, remains to be seen. The Angels have given the 40-year-old veteran every chance, and then some, to snap out of his slump, but they appear to be nearing the end of their rope.

Left-handed hitting Finley is not starting against left-handers, and Scioscia is having a harder time justifying starting Finley against right-handers.

“Every player is responsible for production, which leads to playing time, and his playing time has been diminished,” Scioscia said. “Hopefully he can pick it up. I don’t know if we’re ready to pull the plug on it.”

Scioscia said the Angels have talked about moving first baseman Darin Erstad to center field, which would open first for Kotchman, and he said Erstad would be ready for the challenge. But he added that such a switch would be “an extreme move we would make only if it makes us better.”

The preference, of course, would be for Finley to recapture a scent of his stroke of 2004, when he belted 36 home runs for the Diamondbacks and Dodgers.

“He’s very frustrated, we’re all frustrated with the year he’s having,” Scioscia said. “But no one feels it more than Steve. That’s part of the test, to be able to find his game. That’s what he’s searching for.”