Angels Let Win Get Away

CHICAGO â€”  The Angels and the Chicago White Sox took part in a gift exchange Monday, the White Sox handing the Angels two runs in the top of the ninth inning and the Angels -- good thing they saved the receipt -- returning the pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Angel reliever Scot Shields was left holding the bag.

In his second shaky outing in as many days, Shields walked Willie Harris and Joe Crede to open the ninth, and both scored when Timo Perez dunked a two-out, two-run, opposite-field single to left to lift the White Sox to a 5-4 victory over the Angels in front of an announced 38,685 in U.S. Cellular Field.

“We’re very good at forgetting about yesterday, but we might think a little extra about this one because of the way we came back and the way we lost,� said Angel pitcher Jarrod Washburn, who spent the afternoon wriggling out of jam after jam. “This one might sting a little more.�

After rolling up 30 runs and 38 hits to sweep a three-game weekend series from lowly Kansas City, the Angels returned to the major league portion of their schedule Monday and were stifled by left-hander Mark Buehrle, who held the Angels to two runs and seven hits through eight innings and took a 3-2 lead into the ninth.

But it appeared the Angels might swipe the opener of a 12-game, four-city trip with an improbable ninth-inning rally made possible by Bengie Molina and Jose Molina, who each singled off Buehrle, and White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, whose mishandling of Dallas McPherson’s potential game-ending, double-play grounder enabled the Angels to load the bases with one out.

No. 9 hitter Robb Quinlan, who entered with a .160 average, slapped a tying single to right off reliever Damaso Marte, and Chone Figgins drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Angels a 4-3 lead.

Steve Finley -- who hit a solo home run in the fourth, doubled and scored on Orlando Cabrera’s single in the sixth and singled in the eighth for his first three-hit game of the season -- struck out, and right-hander Cliff Politte came on to retire Cabrera on a fly to right.

Shields, the fill-in closer who began the game with a 4-1 record and 1.50 earned-run average, striking out 37 and walking 14 in 30 innings, walked the speedy Harris to open the bottom of the ninth, and after jumping ahead of Crede with two strikes, Shields walked the No. 9 hitter.

Scott Podsednik advanced the runners with a bunt, and Shields, with first base open, struck out pinch-hitter Carl Everett on three pitches.

With cleanup batter Paul Konerko (13 homers, 37 runs batted in) on deck, the Angels chose to pitch to the seldom-used Perez, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and is batting only .193 (11 for 57) on the season. But Perez looped a 1-and-1 breaking pitch down the left-field line for the game-winner.

“You could see his command wasn’t crisp, so we thought the best thing to do was give Scot as much of a canvas as we could for him to pitch to,� Manager Mike Scioscia said. “If he fell behind Perez, he had some room to work with.�

Shields’ 13-inning scoreless streak ended when he gave up two runs and three hits before recording the save Sunday, and though the right-hander said he felt fine, Scioscia expressed some concern that Shields, who leads Angel relievers with 30 2/3 innings, might be carrying too much of the bullpen load.

“He’s probably been stretched out a bit, but he’s still holding up well,� Scioscia said. “I thought his stuff was good. I don’t think he’s fatigued or suffering from overuse. But [fatigue] might have had something to do with his early command today.�

When closer Francisco Rodriguez is activated off the disabled list Wednesday, Shields, who suffered his second blown save of the season, will return to his set-up role. Asked what he’d learned most in his brief experience as a closer, Shields said, “Don’t walk guys.�

Shields complimented Perez for some good hitting, taking a breaking ball the other way, “but he never would have been in that position without the two leadoff walks,� Shields said. “I don’t know what it was, but the first two hitters got away from me.�