Bottom Falls Out for Angels Again

Manager Mike Scioscia couldn’t have come up with a better analogy for the Angel offense when, following Friday night’s 13-3 shellacking at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays in the Rogers Centre, he said, “Our lineup now is falling off the table” after Garret Anderson and Vladimir Guerrero.

Whether it’s injuries or inexperience, the ability of opposing pitchers or inability of Angel hitters, a team that was expected to contend for the division title is not getting nearly enough offense on a consistent basis to compete.

The top four hitters in the Angel order -- Chone Figgins, Orlando Cabrera, Guerrero and Anderson -- are having solid seasons, as is No. 9 hitter Adam Kennedy, but the Angels’ fifth through eighth batters are hitting a combined .211 (87 for 431) with seven home runs and 29 runs batted in through 30 games

As heartwarming a story as Tim Salmon’s comeback has been, the veteran designated hitter has been slowed by a groin injury and has six hits in his last 32 at-bats, his average falling from .333 on April 16 to .254. He has five RBIs.

Juan Rivera, who was supposed to provide protection to Anderson and Guerrero, has been out since April 17 because of a rib-cage injury, and his anticipated return Tuesday could boost the offense.

But Rivera is no Manny Ramirez, and the Angels will need more than a healthy Rivera to win their third straight American League West crown.

They’ll need production from center fielder Darin Erstad (.238, no homers, four RBIs), who is recovering from a foot injury, and first baseman Casey Kotchman (.164, one homer, six RBIs).

Jose Molina has been excellent behind the plate, but his .155 average, no home runs and three RBIs are putting a drag on the offense. Reserve infielder Edgardo Alfonzo, who recently complained about a lack of playing time, has started six of the last nine games and responded with a feeble two-for-23 performance.

Rookie fill-ins Howie Kendrick, Tommy Murphy and Mike Napoli have shown promise this week, but do the Angels really expect the untested kids to push them into the postseason?

“Some guys are not healthy, some are not swinging the bats, but Mike only has so much to work with because of the banged-up people,” Kennedy said. “Everyone is scuffling a bit. We’re banging our heads against the wall right now. Our offense is based on getting guys on base, going from first to third. We’re not doing that stuff, and we don’t have the three-run-homer guys to make up for it.”

It’s tough enough for the Angels to win when their pitcher delivers a quality start. On nights like Friday, when they got a shoddy start from Ervin Santana (six runs, nine hits in four innings) and rocky relief from Esteban Yan (five runs, four hits in three innings) and J.C. Romero (two runs, four hits in one inning), they have no chance.

Santana fell behind in too many counts, tried to overthrow his fastball and hung a few too many breaking balls, and the Blue Jays pounced on him for two runs in the first, one in the fourth and three in the fifth, an inning highlighted by Shea Hillenbrand’s two-run triple.

Frank Catalanotto’s two-run homer off Yan in the sixth and Russ Adams’ three-run shot off Yan in the seventh sealed the deal, as the Blue Jays beat the Angels for the 18th time in the teams’ last 25 meetings dating back to 2003.

The Angels had a chance to make it interesting in the sixth, when Cabrera’s RBI double and Guerrero’s RBI double -- the right fielder’s first double in 116 at-bats this season -- cut Toronto’s lead to 6-2.

Walks to Kendrick and Molina loaded the bases with two outs, but Murphy, who doubled in the fifth, swung at reliever Dustin McGowan’s first pitch, fouling out to third.