Break’s Just in Time for Skidding Angels

The team that displayed a Dave Wottle-like finishing kick throughout a record-setting June, when the Angels went 22-6 and had 12 come-from-behind victories, gasped and wheezed its way into the All-Star break Sunday.

A 5-4 loss to the Oakland A’s before 23,208 in Edison Field was the Angels’ fifth consecutive defeat and seventh in nine games, and it wasn’t only the loss that left a sour taste in Angel mouths.

It was the way they lost, with closer Troy Percival walking in the winning run in the top of the ninth; with Matt Walbeck failing to sacrifice the potential winning run from second to third in the eighth; with Damon Mashore getting picked off first with a runner on third in the seventh--yes, that play that never seems to work and fans always boo--and with ace Chuck Finley unable to hold a 4-1 lead.

“I hope they stew about the last five games--I don’t want them to forget what the last five days feel like,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said when asked whether he thought players would spend the break dwelling on their recent shortcomings or cleansing them from their system. “I know I’ll be stewing. They can have all the fun they want in November.”

Some players found solace in the standings, which still show the Angels in first place in the American League West, 1 1/2 games ahead of Texas.

“We’ve been grinding for 81 days, we deserve a break,” Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina said. “I ain’t gonna stew. You have to look at the big picture. You can say we played crappy for the last five games, but we had a great June, we played above everyone’s expectations. I’m proud of this team.”

And a little sick of it. Not in a bad way, but let’s just say the All-Star break came at a good time.

“We need the break, we need to get away from each other,” DiSarcina said. “You just spend so much time together . . . we need to refresh, come back in the second half and play better baseball.”

They played fine for a time Sunday, as Jim Edmonds started a four-run fourth with a home run off A’s starter Jimmy Haynes. The rally included Cecil Fielder’s double, DiSarcina’s RBI double, and a fine piece of situational hitting by Garret Anderson, whose grounder to second scored one run and moved another runner to third.

But the A’s scored twice in the fifth, on Ryan Christenson’s RBI double and Rafael Bournigal’s RBI single, to pull to within 4-3, tied it on Mitchell’s homer off Finley to lead off the eighth, and won with the help of several Angel lapses.

With runners on first and third and one out in the seventh, and the Angels leading, 4-3, Oakland reliever Mike Fetters faked to third and picked off Mashore at first. Fielder then struck out to end the inning.

The Angels were well aware of Fetters’ move--he picked off San Diego’s Rueben Rivera with the same move to end Oakland’s 12-10 victory Tuesday--and even though they felt Fetters balked, that was no excuse.

“We told [Mashore] about the move, but after that, what are you going to do?” Collins said. “He got too far off the bag and was picked off. But that was not the ballgame, believe me.”

After Mitchell’s eighth-inning homer, Anderson doubled to lead off the eighth. Walbeck, asked to bunt for only the second time this season, tapped his effort right back to the mound, and Fetters threw out Anderson at third. The inning ended with two fly-ball outs.

Christenson opened the Oakland ninth with a double to left-center off Percival. Left fielder Darin Erstad had a good shot at throwing out Christenson, but his throw was wide of the second-base bag by about 10 feet.

Rickey Henderson walked, Bournigal bunted the runners up, and Ben Grieve was walked intentionally, loading the bases. Mitchell then fouled off three two-strike pitches before drawing his game-winning walk.

“All the things that went right in June we didn’t do the last five games,” Collins said. “We didn’t make the big pitch, the big play, get the big hit. It’s time to take a deep breath. It’s time for the guys to get away from me and me from them.”