Angels fall to Oakland, 3-1, putting more pressure on Mickey Hatcher

Reporting from Oakland — 

Offenses struggle, and batting coaches get fired. Three — Houston’s Sean Berry, Philadelphia’s Milt Thompson and Seattle’s Alan Cockrell — have been dismissed this season.

As much as the Angels are scuffling — they managed five hits in a 3-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Saturday — do not expect Mickey Hatcher, their hitting coach, to join that list. Not if the manager who hired him in 2000, Mike Scioscia, has the final say.

“All of us are very accountable, but there’s nobody who works harder at this than Mickey,” Scioscia said. “There are only so many circumstances you can control as a hitting coach.

“It’s not Mickey’s fault that [Kendry] Morales is out for the year, that [ Bobby] Abreu is not doing what he’s done every year, that [Juan] Rivera is a little down.”

Scioscia has defended Hatcher often. It seems every time the Angels go into a slump, there are calls for Hatcher to be fired.

Such chatter bothers Scioscia. If Hatcher should be fired now, why weren’t there calls for a contract extension for him last season, when the Angels set club records for average (.285), runs (883), hits (1,604) and average with runners in scoring position (.297)?

“He knows hitting,” Scioscia said. “He knows how to teach it.”

Those lessons are not sinking in as well this season. The Angels rank ninth in the American League in runs (586), ninth in average (.254), 11th in on-base percentage (.316), ninth in slugging percentage (.398) and eighth with runners in scoring position (.250).

They narrowly avoided another shutout Saturday when Torii Hunter hit a home run in the eighth inning, ending a streak of games without a run batted in at 20 for the cleanup batter.

That also ended at 31 1/3 innings — over five games — a string in which the Angels hadn’t scored with Jered Weaver on the mound.

The ace took the loss despite giving up three runs and six hits in seven innings; the Angels have scored 26 runs in Weaver’s last 14 starts, and they are 18-27 since the All-Star break despite a pitching staff that has a decent 4.33 earned-run average.

“We’re obviously paying a steep price for not supporting what, for the last month, has been very solid starting pitching,” Scioscia said. “We’re going to evaluate this thing very closely. There aren’t many options as far as personnel right now, but moving forward, you hope some options come about.”

Of Angels regulars, only Hunter, Howie Kendrick and possibly Hideki Matsui are having decent seasons. The rest are having below- or well-below-average years, and it’s taking a toll on the hitting coach.

“I take everything on myself,” Hatcher said. “This is the toughest year I’ve ever had as a coach. These guys work hard, you talk to them about their approaches, and sometimes they’re pressing so hard it’s like they’re going up to the plate with a sledgehammer.

“We’re fighting to put a lineup together to get things going. I tell you, I haven’t slept in a month. All my nights are spent trying to think of something different, maybe change things up. We’ve tried everything.”

The offensive results are not a good reflection on Hatcher, and the coach knows owner Arte Moreno and General Manager Tony Reagins are watching.

“Arte and Tony hire the coaches to make a difference, and it’s frustrating to not make a difference,” Hatcher said. “I’m not giving up on these guys. We’re going to find something. But I take my job personally. I feel like I’m letting the guys down. I feel like I’m letting Mike and Tony down.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com