It’s Way Too Wild for Angels

BALTIMORE —  Pitcher Ken Hill couldn’t find the strike zone, first baseman Darin Erstad couldn’t find his bearings, and the Angel bullpen couldn’t find a way to get anybody out in the sixth inning Saturday night.

As a result, you will find the Angels in second place in the American League West this morning, thanks to their 10-9 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on a steamy, 97-degree evening in Camden Yards.

A crowd of 47,815 saw Baltimore erase a six-run deficit, mostly with seven runs in the sixth inning. The Orioles had plenty to do with the rally--they had eight hits in the sixth--but credit the Angels with an assist or two.

Hill, who continues to struggle since his July 29 trade from the Texas Rangers, issued a bases-loaded walk in the inning, and Erstad, miscalculating the depth of the warning track in foul territory, missed a pop-up that would have ended the inning without the Orioles scoring.

Baltimore then pounded relievers Darrell May and Mike James, sending 12 to the plate during an inning that was highlighted by B.J. Surhoff’s three-run double, which gave him six runs batted in on the night.

“This place is like Colorado--no lead is safe, especially with that club over there,” Angel right fielder Tim Salmon said of cozy Camden Yards and the Orioles, who have the best record in baseball. “This was a game we should have won, but we’ve dealt with a lot this season. We’ll battle back.”

Indeed, the Angels have been a resilient bunch, responding to several devastating losses with winning streaks. The tone was set the second night of the season, when the Angels shut out Boston, 2-0, after giving up four runs in the ninth inning of a 6-5 loss to the Red Sox in the season opener.

“We’ve had tougher losses than this one,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said. Was there any one in particular? “I could give you 10,” he continued. “But this team doesn’t dwell on games like this. That’s one of its strengths. We don’t dwell on the past.”

That attitude will serve Hill well. Hill’s fastball reached 94 mph on the radar gun, and his pitches had a lot of movement, but he simply couldn’t control them. The right-hander walked six in 5 2/3 innings and has now walked 19 in 22 innings of his four Angel starts.

Hill, whom the Angels believed was the final piece to their pitching puzzle, was charged with seven runs on eight hits.

“He didn’t leave many balls over the middle, but the walks killed us,” Collins said. “You can’t walk that many guys on this team, because sooner or later they’re going to get you.”

Hill was not available for comment after the game, but Angel bullpen Coach Joe Coleman, who worked with Hill in St. Louis, thinks Hill may be pressing.

“His stuff is real good, but he’s putting an awful lot of pressure on himself,” Coleman said. “He’s got to realize that just because we traded for him, the whole race isn’t on his shoulders.”

Hill got plenty of offensive support. The Angels built a 7-1 lead after 4 1/2 innings on the strength of four home runs, by Jim Edmonds (solo) in the first inning, Erstad (two-run) and Salmon (two-run) in the third, and Todd Greene (solo) in the sixth. Edmonds, who came off the disabled list Saturday, was playing his first game since July 31.

But the Angels began to unravel in the fifth, when the Orioles scored twice off Hill, and fell apart in the sixth in equaling their largest blown lead of the season.

Ledesma, a former Angel minor leaguer, fouled off five pitches--including the one Erstad dropped--before walking to force in the first run. Surhoff greeted May with a bloop double down the right-field line, which cleared the bases and made the score 8-7.

Geronimo Berroa’s RBI single made it 8-8, Rafael Palmeiro singled off the wall in right, and Cal Ripken and Harold Baines each added RBI singles off James.

Dave Hollins’ RBI triple off reliever Alan Mills made it 10-9, but Jesse Orosco, Armando Benitez and Randy Myers (36th save) combined for 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, with Myers picking off Rickey Henderson for the second out in the ninth.

“Every loss hurts, regardless of how it happens,” Collins said. “But we’ll be back.”

* PHILLIPS’ STATUS

He’s cleared to play, but Angels still reviewing case and union says it will play hardball. C10