Angels Fighting for All Their Worth

The Angels did not gain any ground on the Seattle Mariners in the American League West or the New York Yankees in the wild-card race Friday night.

But at least they left Anaheim Stadium feeling a little bit better about themselves after an 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals before a crowd of 25,259.

An error by Royal shortstop Jay Bell opened the door for the Angels to score three unearned runs in the seventh inning and break a 5-5 tie and a three-game losing streak.

Pep Harris threw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out three, to gain the victory, and Troy Percival struck out two of four in the ninth for his 24th save, the team’s first since Aug. 31.

The Angels still have lost eight of 10 games and 18 of their last 26, and their 5 1/2-game deficit in the West will be difficult to overcome with only 15 games left.

But no victory is hollow considering the depths this team reached this past month, so maintaining the status quo is a step in the right direction.

“Obviously, you watch the scoreboard--you can’t hide it,” Manager Terry Collins said. “But tonight was the first time in a while no one paid attention to it. We didn’t lose any ground, and that’s a positive. Hopefully, this is the steppingstone to a streak of some sort.”

The Angels’ winning rally began when Bell overthrew first on Rickey Henderson’s one-out grounder to the hole. Tony Phillips walked and, after Tim Salmon popped out, Dave Hollins walked to load the bases.

Jim Edmonds worked the count full against reliever Matt Whisenant, fouling one ball off his fingers and one off his foot--an at-bat Collins described as “theatrical”--before walking on an inside fastball, forcing in Henderson for a 6-5 lead.

“That was the worst, best at-bat I’ve had in my life,” Edmonds said.

“I got hit in the fingers, the foot . . . it was terrible. I’m bad and I’m getting worse.”

Darin Erstad’s ensuing at-bat wasn’t pretty, either, but he fought off a tough 0-and-2 pitch and looped a broken-bat, two-run single to right-center for an 8-5 lead.

“We didn’t crush the ball, but we got some big hits and ran the bases aggressively,” Collins said of the Angels’ six-hit attack. “If this gets us going, great.”

The Angels also had a three-run lead, thanks in part to Chad Kreuter’s two-run homer, after two innings but couldn’t hold it because starting pitcher Allen Watson couldn’t keep the ball in the park.

The Big A field will be bigger when renovations are complete in 1998--the gap in left-center field will go from 370 feet to about 400 feet, and the right-field wall will more than double in height from eight feet to 17 feet.

Watson can’t wait. This stadium doesn’t seem big enough for the left-hander, who gave up three homers Friday night, increasing his major league-leading total to 35.

Dean Palmer (solo) homered in the second, and Jeff King (solo) and Yamil Benitez (two-run) homered in the fourth to make it 4-4. Mike Sweeney then reached on Hollins’ error, and Shane Halter walked before Collins replaced Watson with Hasegawa.

The Angel reliever walked Jed Hansen to load the bases but caught Bell, the No. 3 hitter, looking at a full-count slider on the inside corner for an inning-ending strikeout.

The Angels snapped a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the fourth on Henderson’s RBI fielder’s choice, his first RBI since Aug. 30, but the Royals tied it, 5-5, in the seventh on Bell’s sacrifice fly, which scored Jose Offerman, who had doubled.

Watson seemed overpowering at times--he struck out seven--but his 3 2/3-inning, four-run, seven-hit effort meant he has given up 21 earned runs on 32 hits, including six homers, in 17 1/3 innings of his last four starts.

“We talked on the bench about where he’s breaking down--is it concentration? Is it approach?” Collins said. “This is the second time this has happened, where he’s looked dominant, and then couldn’t get anyone out.

“I don’t know the answer, but he has shown us he can be a good pitcher. We need the Allen Watson who was pitching like mad for us in July and August. We need three big games from him, because one of them is in Seattle [on Sept. 23]. He’s got to get his confidence back.”

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AL Wild Card Race

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Team W L Pct. GB New York 83 62 .572 -- Angels 76 71 .517 8 Milwaukee 72 73 .496 11

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Friday’s Results

Angels 8, Kansas City 5

Boston 4, Milwaukee 2

New York 13, Baltimore 5