There’s No More View From Top

Orlando Cabrera scanned the clubhouse Thursday, surveyed the talent the Angels have assembled for $95 million, sized up the relentless $62-million team they can’t shake in the American League West race and found it hard to believe the Angels are tied with the Oakland Athletics atop the division.

“I believe Oakland has a great team, they have unbelievable talent, but I don’t think they are better than us, in my opinion,” the Angel shortstop said. “Have they played better than us the last 100 games? You bet. They’ve had injuries; we’ve had injuries. But we have not played our best.”

On July 6, the Angels were 52-32 and 8 1/2 games in front of Texas in the division. They are 29-33 since then. The A’s were 17-32 on May 29 and 12 1/2 games behind the Angels. They are 64-33 since then.

The Angels were consensus favorites to win the West, while the A’s, who traded pitchers Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder last winter, weren’t supposed to contend.

Has the pressure of such high expectations been a burden for the Angels? Is clinging to a division lead tougher than seizing one, as the Angels did in the final nine days of 2004, when they erased a three-game deficit and beat the A’s by one game to win the West?

“When you’re chasing, you have nothing to lose, and when you’re ahead, you have a lot to lose,” Cabrera said. “But the fact we’re not playing our best is not because we’re not playing loose. I don’t think that’s a reason.”

The primary reason the Angels are a .500 team (34-34) since the beginning of July is they have not hit consistently enough to support their starting pitching.

That lack of production has led to an inordinate number of close games, which in turn has put too much stress on Angel relievers, who were supposed to be a strength but entered Thursday with a 5-12 record and 10 blown saves in 29 chances since the All-Star break.

The Angels are 41-37 in games decided by two runs or less.

“The offense has been spotty, and at times it hasn’t shown up for six or seven games,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “When you’re in so many tight games, the strain on your pitching staff, especially the back end, becomes formidable, and a few games have slipped away late.”

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The Angels’ final off-day of the season is Monday, and Scioscia may use it to skip rookie Joe Saunders in the rotation and start Bartolo Colon on regular rest Tuesday against Texas.

That would align Colon for Sunday, Sept. 25, against Tampa Bay and possibly eliminate the right-hander from a crucial four-game series against the A’s Sept. 26-29.

But the Angels will have the option of bringing Colon back on short rest to start the final game in Oakland. Or they could insert injured left-hander Jarrod Washburn in the rotation next week and push Colon back a day so he could start the series opener against the A’s and again on the final weekend of the season in Texas.

“Obviously, the Oakland series carries a lot of weight,” Scioscia said. “Bart should be able to pitch sometime in that series.”