Angel Batters Are Feeling a Bit Left Out

OAKLAND — There’s something not right about the Angel offense, which is suddenly flatter than a two-day-old glass of soda. For those wanting an explanation, the line forms on the left.

As in left-hander Kenny Rogers . . . and left-hander Barry Zito . . . and left-hander Mark Mulder. . .

In the middle of an eight-game stretch in which they’ll face seven left-handed starters, the Angels were shut out Sunday for the third time this season, falling to Mulder and the Oakland Athletics, 5-0, before 19,456 at Network Associates Coliseum.

Mulder, the rookie who had lost his last four starts and was hit hard (six runs, 10 hits) in Anaheim on June 30, held the Angels to six hits and struck out five in 7 2/3 innings, just a day after Zito, another rookie left-hander, gave up one run and two hits in five innings of a 10-3 Oakland victory.

The Angels, who opened this series with 16 hits in a 12-3 win Friday night, scored three runs on 11 hits in weekend games against two left-handers, and the Texas Rangers will throw three more left-handers at them--Rogers, Darren Oliver and Matt Perisho--in a series beginning tonight in Arlington, Texas.

Rogers gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings of a Ranger victory in Anaheim on Wednesday night, but the Angels beat Oliver on Thursday night. The Angels are 12-14 against left-handed starters this season but 1-3 in their last four games against them.

“By our record, you can see they give us some trouble, but our guys have historically hit left-handers well,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

“Mo [Vaughn] has struggled against them this season, and so has Tim Salmon a little bit, but we feel comfortable lining up against anyone. We’re just in a little lull offensively right now.”

A “little lull” would be too kind of a description for how Vaughn and Salmon have struggled against left-handers. A huge rut is more accurate.

Vaughn, who began the season with a .299 average against left-handers, is batting .215 against them this season, and Salmon, the Angels’ right-handed cleanup batter and a career .279 hitter against left-handers, is hitting .173 with only nine runs batted in against them.

“I don’t think we’re more vulnerable against left-handers,” center fielder Darin Erstad said. “Our lefties hit left-handers pretty well. Those were just two good performances by two good young pitchers, and we didn’t get the job done. It’s pretty simple.”

The Angels mounted only one serious threat against Mulder (6-6) all afternoon, putting runners on first and third with one out in the sixth, but Troy Glaus grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Mulder, mixing his fastball, curve and changeup, retired the first two batters in six of the eight innings he started. Of the six hits he allowed, one was a bloop single and one was an infield single.

“He wasn’t missing many spots,” Erstad said. “He didn’t leave much over the plate to hit, and the ones he did, because of his control, you didn’t recognize them that quickly.”

Mulder’s dominance left no room for error for Angel starter Ken Hill (5-6), who gave up four runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings, including Randy Velarde’s two-run homer in the first.

Miguel Tejada’s RBI single in the third made the score 3-0, Jason Giambi’s sacrifice fly in the fourth made it 4-0, and Giambi capped the A’s offense with his 24th homer and 87th RBI of the season off reliever Al Levine in the sixth.

The Angels lost a series for the first time this month. They began this series in second place in the American League West, trailing Seattle by four games. They left in third place, five games back. They have trailed the Mariners by either four or five games since July 7.

“It’s still July, it’s early, it’s still a grind,” Scioscia said, addressing the Angels’ inability to make a strong run at Seattle. “This thing might see-saw for a while, but no one is out of it right now.

“If this was Sept. 25, we would need a big boost to get there, but this time of year, I think the big grind works in your favor. It enables you to get to where you want to be. So I don’t look at it as spinning our wheels.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

ANGELS AT A GLANCE

AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST

*--*

Seattle 57 40 -- Oakland 53 44 4 Angels 53 46 5 Texas 46 50 10 1/2

*--*

AL WILD CARD

*--*

Oakland 53 44 -- Boston 51 44 1 Angels 53 46 1 Toronto 53 47 1 1/2 Cleveland 50 47 3

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UP NEXT

Angels’ Kent Bottenfield

(6-8, 5.49 ERA)

vs. Rangers’ Kenny Rogers

(10-7, 4.27 ERA)

* Tuesday--Seth Etherton (5-1, 3.97) vs. Darren Oliver (2-5, 6.58).

* Wednesday--Scott Schoeneweis (5-5, 5.08) vs. Matt Perisho (2-3, 6.22)