Scioscia: Struggles Are a Team Effort

Steve Finley has been the poster child for the Angels’ inconsistent offense and the whipping boy for an increasingly irritated fan base that has been venting its frustration on the airwaves and message boards with Finley and Manager Mike Scioscia for continuing to play the struggling center fielder.

But although Finley deserves his share of the blame for an underachieving offense, he’s hitting .215 this season and .195 with four doubles, one home run and nine runs batted in since the All-Star break, Scioscia believes that blame should be diffused over a wide group of players.

“The last month, it’s been tough to focus on one guy,” Scioscia said. “It hasn’t been just Steve. We need everyone to contribute on a consistent basis.”

Indeed, it takes more than one player to bring down a team that was 52-32 and had an 8 1/2 -game lead in the American League West on July 6 but has gone 21-24 since then.

Left fielder Garret Anderson is hitting .236 (29 for 123) with six extra-base hits since the All-Star break, his average falling from .304 to .285. First baseman Darin Erstad is hitting .265 (41 for 155) with six extra-base hits since the break, his average falling from .289 to .281.

Second baseman Adam Kennedy is hitting .280 (35 for 125) with five extra-base hits since the break, his average falling from .347 to .321, and right fielder Vladimir Guerrero is hitting .282 (42 for 149) since the break, his average falling from .335 to .316. Guerrero has 10 homers since the break but one in his last 14 games.

Of the Angel regulars, only Chone Figgins, Orlando Cabrera, Bengie Molina and Juan Rivera are hitting as well as or better than they did in the first half.

“One guy in your lineup is not going to make or break you,” Kennedy said. “Even when Vlad carries us, he has to have guys on base. It’s not just one guy” who is struggling, “it’s the offense as a whole.”

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Cabrera may not be having quite the offensive season the Angels hoped for, but the shortstop who won a Gold Glove Award with Montreal in 2001 has emerged as a Gold Glove candidate again.

Cabrera, whose string of 42 consecutive games without an error ended Friday, entered Saturday’s game with the highest fielding percentage (.989) and fewest errors (five) of American League shortstops.

Trailing Cabrera are New York’s Derek Jeter (.979 fielding percentage, 12 errors), Chicago’s Juan Uribe (.975, 13), Texas’ Michael Young (.975, 13) and Baltimore’s Miguel Tejada (.973, 16).

“Orlando has to be a candidate with the type of year he’s having now,” Scioscia said. “Young, Jeter, Tejada ... he can play with all of them.”