Angels Lose, Can’t Close Controversy

A six-game win streak, a 10-game home win streak and an impressive stretch in which the Angels held a lead for 56 consecutive innings came to a crashing end with Monday night’s 9-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals before 14,447 at Anaheim Stadium.

But the controversy surrounding the Angels’ closer, thought to be put to rest by General Manager Bill Bavasi on Sunday, lingered.

Bavasi gathered reporters before Sunday’s game against Minnesota to announce that flame-throwing right-hander Troy Percival--who is 11 for 11 in save opportunities this season, hasn’t given up a run in 13 appearances or a hit since April 20--was the team’s closer.

But Manager Marcel Lachemann maintained throughout April that Lee Smith--when he proved he was healthy--would return to the closer role, and the manager did not back off from that position Monday afternoon.

“I still have to talk to Bill [Bavasi] about it, because I had made some comments, and I don’t go back on my word,� Lachemann said. “If my word is no good to Lee Smith, it’s no good to anyone else. If that causes a problem, I’ll have to deal with it . . . but right now it’s not an issue.�

Bavasi said his intentions Sunday were to correct comments he made over the winter, after Smith ruptured the patella tendon in his right knee in a hunting accident. Bavasi said in January that Smith would be the team’s closer when he was physically sound.

“I shouldn’t have said that,� Bavasi said. “At whatever point Lach wants Lee to close, he’ll close, but the club is not going to mandate who the closer is. That’s up to Lach. I realized I put Lach and Lee and Troy in bad spots by saying what I did. A general manager should not be making those decisions.�

Lachemann said Smith, who has pitched three scoreless innings since coming off the disabled list April 23, is “close� to being ready to close, but it may not be with the Angels.

Bavasi is trying to trade the 38-year-old, who has a major league-record 471 saves, and the Angels are believed to be talking with the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros about Smith. The Angels would like Astro right-hander Darryl Kile, but considering Smith’s age, health and salary ($1.7 million), it’s doubtful the Angels could get a major league starting pitcher for Smith.

“I’m dedicated to making sure Lee can close somewhere,� Bavasi said, “and if I can make the right deal tomorrow, I’d make the deal.�

The Angels didn’t need a closer Monday as much as they needed a middle reliever or two. The Angels had 12 hits, including four by Jim Edmonds and three by J.T. Snow, but the Royals pounded out a season-high 16 hits and chased starter Phil Leftwich in the fifth.

Leftwich, making his second start since being called up from triple-A Vancouver to replace injured Scott Sanderson, gave up five runs (two earned) and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Asked if Leftwich would get another start with the Angels, Lachemann said, “I don’t know.� With Mark Langston a candidate for the disabled list, what are Lachemann’s options? “There are always options,� he said.

Two former Dodgers helped beat the Angels--pitcher Tim Belcher, who had a career 1-3 record and 7.13 earned-run average against the Angels, gave up 12 hits but only four runs in 6 1/3 innings to gain the win, and first baseman Jose Offerman had three hits and an RBI and scored twice.

The Royals, with the help of Angel second baseman Randy Velarde’s fielding error and David Howard’s two-run single, scored three unearned runs in the second, giving the Angels their first deficit in 56 innings.

The Angels countered with two runs in the second on Edmonds’ RBI single and Tim Salmon’s sacrifice fly, but the Royals scored twice in the fifth (RBI singles by Johnny Damon and Michael Tucker) and three times in the seventh (Damon’s two-run triple, Tucker’s suicide squeeze) to take an 8-3 lead.

Tom Goodwin’s error on Gary DiSarcina’s liner to left field led to an Angel rally in the seventh. Edmonds, who hit his 11th homer in the fifth, singled, and Salmon singled to make it 8-4.

Bip Roberts gave the Royals an insurance run in the eighth with an RBI single off Mark Eichhorn.