It’s Not Going So Hot for Angels

BALTIMORE â€”  It wasn’t the heat, it was the humility, and the list of those who were humbled in the Angels’ grueling 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday is as long as a Mark McGwire home run.

There was reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa, whose 10th-inning walk and balk started the Orioles’ winning rally, which ended with Lenny Webster’s RBI single over the third base bag.

There was Darin Erstad, who appeared to steal second after walking to lead off the 10th but slid past the bag and was tagged out.

There was Manager Terry Collins, who must have kicked himself after letting right-hander Pep Harris--and not lefty Mike Holtz--pitch to Rafael Palmeiro, whose home run tied the score, 4-4, in the eighth.

There was Dave Hollins, who was ruled out on two questionable calls, one at the plate after replays showed he dived in safely in the fourth and one on a fan-interference play that ended the fifth with runners on second and third.

There was the Angel front office, which did not re-sign minor league infielder Aaron Ledesma after the 1996 season and saw Ledesma come back to haunt them, hitting a home run in the sixth Sunday for the Orioles.

And there was third base coach Larry Bowa, who was ejected after arguing home plate umpire Ed Hickox’s call on Hollins in the fourth, swapped insults with third base umpire Joe Brinkman in the middle of the inning and had to be restrained by Collins and three Angel coaches during an argument with Brinkman.

It was another scorcher of a 97-degree day in Camden Yards, and tempers remained high after the 3-hour 47-minute drain-a-thon, which dropped the Angels a game behind Seattle in the American League West.

“He missed the play,� Bowa said of Hickox’s fourth-inning call. “If it’s a bang-bang play, that’s one thing, but [Hollins’] whole hand was on the plate. Every game is important. You can’t miss calls like that.�

Tim Salmon’s RBI single tied the score at 1-1, and when right fielder Geronimo Berroa bobbled the ball, Hollins, who was on first, was waved around third by Bowa.

Berroa threw to second second base, and shortstop Jeff Reboulet fired a one-hop relay home to Webster, who tagged Hollins on the left calf well after Hollins’ hand touched the plate.

Collins, who replaced Bowa as the third base coach after the ejection, refused to second-guess the call. “I never, ever question an umpire’s call,� he said.

But pitcher Allen Watson, who gave up three runs on eight hits in seven innings, ripped that call and Brinkman’s fifth-inning call, when he ruled that Hollins’ foul pop, which was touched by a fan, would have been caught by B.J. Surhoff, even though the left fielder appeared to pull up instead of lunge for the ball.

“They really stuck it to us,� Watson said. “That shows you how umpires can control the game. That was a big situation [in the fifth] and to make a call like that hurts. If Dave gets a hit right there, we’re up, 5-1, and the game is over.�

Game over? Watson apparently wasn’t paying attention Saturday, when the Angels blew a six-run lead and lost to the Orioles, 10-9.

No lead is safe in this park when fly balls such as the one Palmeiro hit in the eighth, which traveled an estimated 365 feet, can find their way into the right-field bleachers.

“That was more like a popup,� said Harris, who was burned by a Cal Ripken grand slam in an 8-4 loss to the Orioles in Camden Yards on May 6. “But that’s the field. It’s part of baseball. You can’t complain about it.�

Collins was more upset with Harris’ pitch, a curve that hung a little too long in Palmeiro’s hitting zone.

“If you think you’re going to win by hanging pitches, you’re not,� Collins said, “especially against these guys.�

There was some question whether Harris should have had the chance to hang the pitch. Holtz, who has a 1.67 earned-run average, was loose, and he eventually replaced Harris and struck out Brady Anderson to end the eighth.

“Guys like Palmeiro and Surhoff are not too shaken by left-handers,� Collins said. “I thought we could keep the sinker down, but we hung a curve . . . you could talk about a lot of options, but once in a while somebody has got to get the job done.�