Angels Make Spectacle of 4-0 Loss

It was all hugs and handshakes and laughter before Monday’s game, the joyful reunions between Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay’s manager and former Angels bench coach, and his former mates stretching from early afternoon all the way through batting practice.

The crowning moment came when most of the Angels donned Maddon’s trademark black-rimmed glasses, the funky, Elvis Costello look-alikes, for the national anthem. Devil Rays catcher Josh Paul had sent a box of the spectacles, a promotional giveaway this season, to his former teammates.

The Angels and Maddon cracked up throughout the anthem, after which Maddon waved his cap and bowed toward the Angels dugout in appreciation, but there was no such frivolity during the game, and certainly none afterward for the Angels, who were shut out, 4-0, in Tropicana Field.

Being blanked despite accruing 11 hits off a starter of virtually no acclaim -- Devil Rays right-hander Jamie Shields -- and two relievers, after scoring 26 runs in a three-game series in Cleveland, was confounding enough for the Angels.

But more perplexing was a bizarre first-inning play in which the Angels’ fastest player, center fielder Chone Figgins, jogged after an errant throw, drawing the ire of Manager Mike Scioscia.

Angels starter Jeff Weaver walked Julio Lugo to open the first, and Lugo took off on a full-count pitch to Carl Crawford. Umpire Paul Schrieber called ball four, but not before Angels catcher Mike Napoli, thinking it was a strike, fired to second, his throw sailing well over the head of shortstop Orlando Cabrera for an error.

Figgins rushed to back up the throw, but when the ball got by him and rolled about 40 feet for another error, Figgins did not run at full speed to get it. Lugo scored, and Crawford made it to third. He scored on Jonny Gomes’ sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.

“The errors, combined with Figgy not busting it for that ball, compounded that situation,” Scioscia said. “We talked about it. That’s not like Figgy. It’s something that needs to be cleaned up, and it’s been addressed.”

It wasn’t the first time this season Figgins’ effort has been questioned. Second baseman Adam Kennedy criticized Figgins for not getting a good enough jump on a bunt play in a May 18 loss to Toronto, and Figgins and reliever Brendan Donnelly got into a shouting match in the clubhouse after the game.

Scioscia rarely criticizes his players publicly, so for him to do so Monday is an indication of how upset he was.

“Missing a ball is a physical error, but that guy should have never ended up on third base,” Scioscia said. “That could have saved a run.”

Kennedy also committed a fielding error in the seventh -- after Joey Gathright’s two-run double gave Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead -- giving the Angels an American League-high 42 errors. The Angels tied for the league lead in fielding percentage last season; they rank last this season and have given up a league-high 39 unearned runs.

The Angels’ best scoring chance also ended on a fluke play. With two on in the seventh, Vladimir Guerrero, who had three hits, sent a grounder toward the middle. The ball squirted out of second baseman Tomas Perez’s glove but bounced on one hop to Lugo, who stepped on second and threw to first to complete an inning-ending double play.

“Jeff pitched a terrific game,” Scioscia said of Weaver, who gave up three earned runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. “We just didn’t support him in the field and at the plate.”