Angels in Dire Need of Repairs

MINNEAPOLIS â€”  The Angels have slipped back into their clunker mode, looking like a beat-up jalopy whose clutch is shot and timing is gone.

Need a hit with the bases empty? No problem. With the bases loaded? No can do. Make a defensive miscue and the opponent makes you pay--dearly.

That was the epilogue of Tuesday night’s 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins, in which an Angel team that has little room for error made far too many mistakes, and an injury plagued team that must make efficient use of hits stretched itself too thin offensively.

The result was the Angels’ third consecutive loss, which followed their impressive four-game winning streak last week, and the dissipation of whatever momentum they gained during a 6-3 homestand against Boston, New York and Baltimore.

“You score three runs a night in a hitter’s park and you’re not going to win too often,� Manager Marcel Lachemann said after 10,899 in the Metrodome saw the Twins defeat the Angels. “Stranding runners has been the name of the game the last two nights.�

It was only a part of their game Tuesday. Third baseman Tim Wallach’s fielding error in the third inning led to two unearned runs, which might have been prevented had second baseman Randy Velarde not botched a relay play. Velarde’s error in judgment on the basepaths in the first inning also cost the Angels a run.

Four Minnesota pitchers combined to walk seven, but none scored. The Angels had the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh but scored only once--on Don Slaught’s double-play grounder. And what did Slaught do to open the ninth? Singled.

The Angels had the bases loaded again with two outs in the eighth, but Rex Hudler swung just under an Eddie Guardado fastball, sending a fly ball to left instead of a grand slam to the bleachers.

“I missed it by a quarter-inch, and that’s the difference between a victory and a hang-with-’em game,� Hudler said.

Starting pitcher Jason Grimsley’s mistakes were hit hard, most notably Rich Becker’s two-run double in the third and Paul Molitor’s two-run homer in the fifth.

Tim Salmon continued his offensive resurgence with a two-run homer in the first, his third in five games, Orlando Palmeiro had two hits and a run in his first game of the season and J.T. Snow doubled and singled. But Snow and Palmeiro both struck out with two on in the seventh.

Then there were the misadventures of Velarde: First inning, Palmeiro on second, Velarde on first, Anderson hits a long fly ball to center. Becker fields it on the warning track, Palmeiro tags and takes third, but Velarde is thrown out trying to advance to second.

Salmon then homers off Twin starter Frank Rodriguez, but the Angels have only two runs to show for it, not three.

“Their guy [Becker] was deep, and I didn’t know anything about his arm strength,� Velarde said. “It was a gamble, and when you think about it, maybe I should have shut it down, because he got me pretty easily. But sometimes you have to roll the dice. When you’re not scoring runs, sometimes you have to take a chance.�

The Twins tried the same base-running maneuver in the third on Chuck Knoblauch’s fly to deep center, but Velarde, who was not lined up properly with second base, fielded Palmeiro’s throw and relayed to third instead of second, where the Angels had a much better shot at Pat Meares.

Had Palmeiro’s throw cut down Meares, it would have been the third out of the inning. But Becker hit his two-out double for two runs instead.