Angels’ Santana proves quite a hit with Devil Rays

There are two bits of Angels trivia involving Paul Hartzell, one that the long-retired pitcher probably doesn’t mind in the wake of an undistinguished career and another that he surely could do without.

Roughly 2 1/2 years before he was shipped to the Minnesota Twins in February 1979 as part of a five-player trade that brought Rod Carew to Anaheim, Hartzell was battered for 15 hits during a loss to the Kansas City Royals.

Ervin Santana came within an eyelash of matching that dubious team record -- in the fifth inning -- Tuesday night at Tropicana Field during the Angels’ 8-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a defeat that could mark the struggling right-hander’s last start before a demotion to the minor leagues.

Manager Mike Scioscia was noncommittal when asked whether Santana would make his next scheduled start Sunday against Minnesota, saying “we’re going to look at stuff.”

“There are some options we might look at moving forward, but we’ll wait and evaluate some stuff and look at some video and see where we’re going to go,” said Scioscia, who could replace Santana with reliever Dustin Moseley or triple-A left-hander Joe Saunders.

Santana (5-11) gave up 14 hits and seven runs in six innings, and needed a strong finish merely to avoid matching Hartzell’s record after Josh Wilson singled to left-center field with two out in the fifth inning for the Devil Rays’ 14th hit. Hartzell had stretched his hit parade over 8 2/3 innings against the Royals in September 1976.

“I just have to pitch. I don’t have to prove nothing to anybody,” said Santana, who is a major league-worst 1-9 with an 8.79 earned-run average on the road.

Asked whether it was tough to pitch with the possibility of being yanked from the rotation constantly looming over his head, Santana said, “Next question please.”

Catcher Jose Molina said Santana’s teammates haven’t lost confidence in a pitcher who won 16 games last season and possesses electric stuff despite a career-high five-game losing streak.

“Just because he’s struggling right now, that doesn’t mean nothing,” Molina said. “He’s due to come back and perform good in the second half....In my opinion, he deserves to be here.”

Santana appeared on the verge of a decent outing when he escaped two-on jams in three of the first four innings and Molina hit a two-run single to pull the Angels into a 2-2 tie in the fifth. But the first four hitters reached base in the bottom of the inning and eventually scored as the Devil Rays struck for five runs.

Pitching coach Mike Butcher said Santana’s slider, which had been a problematic pitch in recent starts, was fine Tuesday; fastball command was the issue this time. Santana said he fell behind in too many counts in the decisive fifth inning and thus grooved too many pitches.

“Ervin’s a big part of this club, and he needs to get things back on track,” Butcher said. “We would like to see him start making some pitches. The commitment’s there. He’s working hard, he’s trying to do the things he needs to do to be successful, and right now it’s just not happening for him.”

Santana said the solution to his prolonged woes is to keep pitching.

“Everything’s not going right right now,” he said. “One day, it’s just going to be how I want it. I have to keep pitching.”

He can only hope he gets the chance.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com