Loss Doesn’t Hurt as Much for the Angels

Tim Salmon was injured and had to leave Monday’s game, but the X-rays were negative.

That was the extent of good news for the Angels, though, after an 8-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. For as any Angel fan can tell you, the glass is never half-empty, just cracked and leaking.

Salmon had to take that well-worn path from the Angel clubhouse to UC Irvine Medical Center. That it was only a sprained left wrist gave Manager Terry Collins some sense of relief.

It certainly beat the rest of his day, which seemed to follow Angel tradition:

* Their big free agent bombed, or rather was bombed. Pitcher Tim Belcher, signed to a two-year, $10.2-million contract, failed to get out of the fifth inning for the fifth time in six starts. He gave up five runs in the inning and left to boos from the announced crowd of 31,995 at Edison Field.

* An old trade came back to haunt the Angels. They had averaged nearly nine runs during the previous eight games, but mustered four measly hits against their one-time prospect, John Snyder.

So talking about Salmon--who was hobbled last season because of a torn ligament in his left foot--being day-to-day was preferable.

“That’s the absolute best possible news,” Collins said. “Still, with a sprain, you don’t know. It could be one game or more. Of course, after watching Tim Salmon play last season, I’m not sure an average sprain can keep him from being himself.”

Salmon was himself in the fourth, sliding in an attempt to catch Paul Konerko’s sinking line drive. His glove caught on the ground and bent his hand back.

Magglio Ordonez scored to break a 1-1 tie and Konerko ended up on third. But that was the least of Angel concerns. Salmon hit in the bottom of the inning, flying out to center, but was in obvious pain and left after the fifth.

Considering the overpopulation problem on the Angel disabled list--Jim Edmonds, Gary DiSarcina, et al--this was not good.

“When they told me they were taking me to get X-rayed, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go,” Salmon said. “We’ll see how it feels tomorrow. They said the pain will probably be worse. There is no point in going out there and tearing something.”

Meanwhile, it will be pitching coach Dick Pole, not the trainer, who works on Belcher (1-2). The Angels pursued Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson during the off-season, but were out-bid. At this point, they can at least feel good that Belcher came cheap, by comparison.

Belcher was given a 10-0 lead against Toronto last Wednesday. He gave up six runs in the fifth and was pulled before the inning was over. He faded again Monday, only he didn’t have a 10-run lead to work with.

Jeff Abbott hit a home run with one out. Belcher then gave up three consecutive singles, two on bunts. He kept Frank Thomas in the ballpark--he hit a sacrifice fly to center--but couldn’t do the same with Ordonez, whose three-run homer made it 7-1 and finished Belcher.

“I’m fine mechanically, I’m fine physically,” said Belcher, whose earned-run average climbed to 9.96. “I have never had a streak as bad as this. If you’re not hitting your spots the second time through the order, you’re in trouble with big league hitters. All I can do is keep going out there.”

The White Sox had no such pitching problems, courtesy of the Angels. Snyder, then a minor leaguer, was part of the trade that brought Jim Abbott back to Anaheim in 1995.

“You have consider John one of the best pitchers in the league,” White Sox Manager Jerry Manuel said.

Snyder is a big reason the White Sox have the league’s lowest earned-run average, 3.83. He is 4-1 with a 1.64 ERA.

Snyder allowed a leadoff double by Orlando Palmeiro, then retired 14 consecutive batters. He got the last nine as well, striking out Randy Velarde and Mo Vaughn looking to end the game.