Left-handed slap again leaves Angels red-faced

Exit stage left? That probably won’t be the Angels’ departure route come playoff time, if only because no team besides Cleveland, among probable American League postseason foes, features multiple left-handed starters.

The Angels have the second-best record in baseball but are only 16-18 against left-handed starters after a 6-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Sunday evening at Angel Stadium.

Getting shut down by Cy Young Award candidate C.C. Sabathia, as the Angels did Saturday, is one thing. Being held to two runs in five innings by unheralded rookie Aaron Laffey is quite another.

“We haven’t had success in finishing games, finishing rallies and winning games against lefties,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. “It’s something we’ve looked at. Hopefully, some right-handed bats are going to step up and start to do it.”

The Angels’ two left-handed hitters, Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman, did their part Sunday, combining to finish four for eight. But the rest of the lineup was five for 27 (.185), and the Angels collectively were hitless in nine at-bats with runners in scoring position.

“I think we’re the same team no matter who’s out on the mound,” said switch-hitting leadoff man Reggie Willits, who was 0 for 5. “All our left-handers in the lineup hit left-handers really well . . . so in my opinion there’s nothing to it.”

The Angels squandered an early 2-0 lead en route to losing a game in the AL West standings for the first time since Aug. 23, their advantage over Seattle reduced to a still-robust eight games. Their magic number held steady at 13 with 19 games remaining.

After facing the minimum number of batters in the first three innings, Jered Weaver (11-7) was shelled for six hits and five runs in the fourth, the big blow coming on Ryan Garko’s first-pitch, three-run homer that cleared both bullpens beyond the left-field fence.

“He usually doesn’t swing at the first pitch off me, so I thought I could get one in there for a strike early,” Weaver said of his slider that hung over the plate. “He hit it where it should have been hit.”

The Angels fell to 2-2 during a recent stretch without Vladimir Guerrero, who is expected to return from an inflamed right triceps Tuesday when the Angels open a series in Baltimore.

Cleveland shortstop Jhonny Peralta’s throwing error in the first inning and Mike Napoli’s sacrifice fly in the second had given the Angels a 2-0 lead against Laffey (3-1), but the Angels failed to score again despite putting two runners on in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

“We’re trying to put together some good at-bats up there and put some runs up there as a team, but you’re never probably quite as good when you’ve got one of the best players in baseball out of the lineup,” Willits said of Guerrero.

Outfielder Juan Rivera hasn’t exactly provided the late-season boost the Angels had hoped in his first few games back from a broken left leg. He was hitless in four at-bats Sunday and is batting .077 since his call-up this month, though he made a nice sliding catch in the third inning Saturday to rob Franklin Gutierrez of a hit.

Scioscia said he was looking forward to penciling Guerrero’s name into his lineup Tuesday after the Angels averaged four runs in their most recent stretch without the slugger.

“It’s going to be great to get our continuity back and get our whole lineup out there, and hopefully Tuesday we’ll be able to do that,” Scioscia said.

“We’re a team that we’re not built around one guy, but certainly his presence in the lineup makes everybody better and gets everybody into a comfort level, and that’s important.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com