Angels Out of Whack

Is this how far the supposedly high-powered Angel offense, a lineup many consider the greatest in franchise history, has deteriorated?

Manager Mike Scioscia sends catcher Bengie Molina, the team’s slowest runner, from first base with a full count on Adam Kennedy in an attempt to open a hole on the right side of the infield and stay out of a double play?

Their only run off Texas starter R.A. Dickey coming on a third-inning single, walk, sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly?

Strange, but true: The Angels lost to the Rangers, 4-1, in front of an Angel Stadium crowd of 36,689 Wednesday night, dropping their record to 7-8, extending their losing streak to three and their offensive funk to six games in which they’ve hit .202 (38 for 188) and scored 13 runs.

Wasted Wednesday was Angel right-hander John Lackey’s best start of the season, a confidence-building, 6 2/3-inning, seven-hit, three-run effort in which he showed far better command than his first two starts, when he was roughed up for 11 earned runs and 15 hits in nine innings.

Dickey, quickly building a reputation as an Angel nemesis, gave up one run and six hits, striking out seven in seven innings, improving his career mark against the Angels to 3-0 with a 1.48 earned-run average.

But was the result more a reflection of Dickey’s dominance or the Angels’ lamentable lumber?

“Tonight was the worst offensive execution we’ve had all season,� Scioscia said. “We put guys in motion and couldn’t put the ball in play, and that’s very uncharacteristic of these guys. We had five leadoff guys on base and couldn’t convert them to runs.�

The Angels stole 14 bases in 15 attempts in their first 14 games, but they had three runners cut down by Ranger catcher Gerald Laird on Wednesday night.

David Eckstein was caught stealing second in the first inning; Jose Guillen, running on a full-count pitch to Jeff DaVanon in the second, was thrown out at second after DaVanon struck out, and Molina and Kennedy were doubled up in the fifth, Kennedy’s striking out on a 3-2 pitch with Molina thrown out at second.

After Darin Erstad’s third-inning sacrifice fly tied the score, 1-1, the Angels threatened in the fourth when Anderson led off with a double. But Troy Glaus struck out, and Guillen and DaVanon grounded to short. The Angels didn’t advance a runner to second the rest of the game.

“Some guys are pressing a little bit, and some need to make adjustments,� Scioscia said. “Some guys are getting taken out of their game trying to do too much. Some are over-swinging, and some are caught in between being too aggressive or too passive, and it’s caused a little bit of a funk.�

Vladimir Guerrero, the $70-million centerpiece of the Angel offense, has three hits in 25 at-bats in his last six games, his average dropping from .361 to .262. Kennedy has three hits in 27 at-bats in his last eight games, dropping from .348 to .220.

“No matter how good you are on paper, there are going to be times when it’s not good,� said Erstad, batting .231. “We all want to find a groove sooner than later, and we obviously haven’t found it.�

The Rangers scored in the first inning when Michael Young walked, stole second and came home on Hank Blalock’s single. They broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth when Young drove a perfectly placed fly ball into the right-center field gap for a two-out, two-run triple.

Texas added a run in the ninth on Adrian Gonzalez’s RBI single off reliever Scot Shields, and reliever Jeff Nelson (scoreless eighth) and closer Francisco Cordero (scoreless ninth for his fourth save) secured the win for Dickey.