Pitching Is Starting Point for Angel Skid

By JASON REID

June 20, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

ST. LOUIS — Strong starting pitching fueled the Angels’ post-April ascent, helping the then-struggling club make a surprising turnaround.

The Angels believe the rotation hasn’t reached its zenith, though another member stalled Wednesday night as they dropped their fourth in a row, 6-2, to the St. Louis Cardinals in an interleague game at Busch Stadium.

A somber crowd of 35,432 mourned the death of Jack Buck, the Cardinals’ Hall of Fame broadcaster, during a pre-game, on-field ceremony, and St. Louis trailed in the first inning after David Eckstein’s leadoff double and Garret Anderson’s run-scoring single.

Things turned quickly for the Angels, and a starter was at the center of the trouble again.

This time it was Aaron Sele (6-4), who was ineffective in 5 1/3 innings on a night the Angels needed a solid outing after Kevin Appier worked only two-plus innings Tuesday. Sele gave up eight hits--including three home runs--and six runs as the Angels matched their second-longest skid of the season.

The Angels (39-29) are three games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners in the American League West, and only one game ahead of the charging Oakland Athletics.

Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going wrong.

“You can point your finger at what’s happened to us: We’re not getting the consistent starts that we had been for six weeks,” said Scioscia, whose starters are 0-3 with a 15.34 earned-run average in their last four outings.

“Every team is going to go through this. Where we had one good start after another, and the guys were all just feeding off of that, right now we’re trying to break the cycle of tough start after tough start.

“Right now, if you look at what’s happening in the last week, it really has come down to our starting pitching hasn’t gone deep enough, and pitched effectively enough, to give us an opportunity to win ballgames. This last week has been tough, but there’s nobody losing confidence in this club.

“There’s nobody that doesn’t feel this club is a championship-caliber club, and we’ll eventually get there.”

Placido Polanco had a big night, providing the Cardinals with an unexpected source of power.

The diminutive utilityman (listed at 5 feet 10, 168 pounds) had his first career two-home run game, equaling a career high with four runs batted in.

Polanco, who entered the game with one homer, gave the Cardinals a 6-1 lead with a three-run blast to left field in the fifth.

Matt Morris (10-4) knew what to do with the support.

The Cardinal ace went right at the Angels, taking command over seven strong innings for the National League Central Division’s first-place club, which has won five straight to improve to 40-29 and goes for a three-game sweep today. Morris gave up seven hits and two runs, displaying the type of performance the Angels now need from one of their veteran starters.

Scott Spiezio played well in place of All-Star third baseman Troy Glaus--benched because of a 12-for-90 slump--going three for four with his fourth home run.

He needed a triple for the cycle and played well on defense.

However, offense isn’t the Angels’ pressing concern.

“Starters set the tone,” said Sele, who has given up 15 hits and 10 earned runs in his last 11 1/3 innings. “Obviously, a game like today, you try to keep it close for as long as you can while you’re out there.

“When you look over at what Matt did tonight, he held us down. He just kept pitching his game. That’s what you need to do as a starting pitcher, and I didn’t do it.”

The solution for the Angels is simple, albeit difficult to achieve, pitching coach Bud Black said.

“We need a starter to step up and pitch a good game,” he said.

“A good game is a shutout, one run or two runs, and to pitch deep into the game. That’s what we need.”