Nothing goes right for Angels

As good a record as the Angels have this season, and as well as they’ve played at home, there has been one weak link in their chain of victories, one sore spot that has been exposed at home and on the road: their vulnerability to left-handed pitchers.

New York Yankees veteran Andy Pettitte was the latest lefty to beat the Angels, limiting them to one run and five hits in seven innings of an 8-2 victory Wednesday night that prevented the Angels from increasing their lead over Seattle in the American League West.

The Yankees blew open a 3-1 game with four runs in the eighth inning, three off beleaguered Angels reliever Scot Shields, to avoid a three-game sweep and move within five games of the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. The Angels remain two games ahead of the Mariners.

“I knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Angels starter John Lackey, who gave up four runs and 10 hits in seven-plus innings and fell to 15-8. “We scored 18 runs against them [Tuesday], we were going against a good pitcher, and we were trying to sweep the Yankees. Things kind of even themselves out.”

Pettitte was the great equalizer Wednesday. He threw first-pitch strikes to 14 of 26 batters and struck out six to improve to 7-1 in his last nine starts and 68-33 as a Yankee in games following a loss. His only blemish: Orlando Cabrera’s solo homer that made it 1-1 in the sixth.

“He knows when it’s important for us to win,” Yankees Manager Joe Torre said of Pettitte. “This game was enormously important for us.”

The Angels, meanwhile, fell to 15-15 against left-handed starters on the season, 10-8 at home and 5-7 on the road. They’re 59-37 against right-hander.

Some explanations: Robb Quinlan, a career .324 hitter against left-handers, is batting .250 against them this season and has not played enough to find his stroke. Switch-hitter Gary Matthews Jr. is batting .198 from the right side. Hard-hitting second baseman Howie Kendrick has missed half of the season because of injuries.

“Q is not as locked in as he was last year, and he really attacks left-handers well,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Some of our switch-hitters, like Gary, have struggled from the right side. It’s a consistency thing.”

Lackey kept the Angels in the game through seven innings, giving up a run on Robinson Cano’s infield single in the fourth and two runs on RBI singles by Melky Cabrera and Derek Jeter in the seventh. But Bobby Abreu led off the eighth with a home run to center to make it 4-1, and Scioscia went to Shields in hopes of boosting the right-hander’s confidence.

So much for that -- Alex Rodriguez walked, Hideki Matsui doubled, Jorge Posada hit a two-run double, and Cabrera’s RBI single off Chris Bootcheck, a run charged to Shields, made it 7-1. Shields now has a 13.50 earned-run average in nine August games.

“We were trying to let him relax and make some pitches, but he fell behind Alex and things spiraled from there,” Scioscia said. “He’ll get better. It’s just a matter of him finding it.”

A lack of quality Angels relief was probably a relief to first-base umpire Dan Iassogna, whose blown call in the fourth inning cost the Angels a run and would have loomed large in a tight game.

With runners on first and third, Kendrick chopped a grounder to third and appeared to beat Cano’s relay to first for an RBI fielder’s choice. But Iassogna ruled Kendrick out, and the Yankees had a double play and retained their 1-0 lead. Replays clearly showed that Kendrick was safe.

“We didn’t play well enough to absorb a play like that,” Scioscia said, “but at the time, that was big.”

More bad news for the Angels. One night after losing leadoff batter Chone Figgins to a wrist injury, first baseman Casey Kotchman was hit in the left thumb and middle finger as he fouled off a pitch in the ninth. Though he finished the at-bat, he will have X-rays today.

“We’ll keep our fingers crossed,” Scioscia said. “It’s black and blue. Hopefully, it’s nothing that won’t be all right in a couple of days. It’s very sore right now.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com