It’s Still a Good Mix Offensively for Angels

For Angel skeptics questioning the wisdom of the Jim Leyritz trade, wondering if the Angels sacrificed too much “team chemistry” to acquire pitcher Ken Hill this week, stick this in your Bunsen burners:

New Angel starting catcher Todd Greene had four hits, including a three-run home run, and a career-high six runs batted Thursday night as the Angels overcame a nine-run deficit--their largest in team history--against the Chicago White Sox.

But with a chance to overtake Seattle atop the AL West, the game slipped through the Angels’ hands in the ninth inning as the White Sox scored twice for a 14-12 victory before 23,297 in Anaheim Stadium.

With the score tied, 12-12, pinch-hitter Lyle Mouton and Ozzie Guillen opened the ninth with singles off Angel reliever Mike Holtz. Dave Martinez then bunted toward third base, and Holtz got to the ball in time to make a play at third.

But Holtz’s low throw appeared to handcuff third baseman Dave Hollins, who was searching for the bag with his back foot and the ball at the same time and found neither. The ball skipped off his glove and into foul territory for an error, allowing Mouton to score the go-ahead run.

Ray Durham then lofted a fly ball to medium center field, and Jim Edmonds, whose eighth-inning homer--his 18th--tied the score, 12-12, made a tremendous throw to the plate. But Guillen avoided Greene’s swiping tag and came back to touch the plate for a 14-12 lead.

Chicago reliever Matt Karchner was then able to do what no other White Sox pitcher could Thursday--retire Greene--and the right-hander pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save, keeping the Angels half a game behind the Mariners and ending their win streak at four games.

“It really doesn’t matter,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said of the Angel comeback, which surpassed the previous team record by two runs. “No question, nothing this team does surprises me any more. We got some runs across, and the guys realized if they could hold them they could come back and win. Unfortunately, we couldn’t hold them.”

Chicago built a 9-0 lead in the second inning and appeared to rebound nicely from the jolt of Thursday’s trade in which three pitchers--Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez and Danny Darwin--were basically gift-wrapped and handed to the San Francisco Giants.

Then the White Sox rolled over like their front office did Thursday, blowing the entire lead by the fifth inning.

Greene keyed a four-run second with a three-run homer--his third homer in the past three games--and had an RBI single in a three-run fourth. He added a two-run double during a four-run fifth, in which the Angels had five consecutive hits after two were out.

Gary DiSarcina’s RBI single cut the deficit to one run, and Tony Phillips’ RBI double to right-center pulled the Angels even, 11-11. When Darin Erstad grounded out to end the inning, fans gave the Angels a standing ovation.

Particularly worthy of such praise was Greene, the highly touted prospect who raised his average to .328.

“You talk about the future, here it is,” Collins said. “He’s handled everything as well as you could expect. He went down [to triple-A Vancouver in April] and worked on his defense and improved. He’s blocking the ball well, he’s throwing well, and he’s handling the pitchers well . . . and you know he’s going to hit.”

There were plenty of hits Thursday night--the teams combined for 31, including eight doubles and four homers--but another key to the Angel comeback was a superb effort by Angel right-hander Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who gave up just one run on three hits from the fifth through eighth innings.

The starting pitchers weren’t nearly as good. Angel rookie Jason Dickson had his worst--and shortest--outing as a professional, giving up eight runs on seven hits and walking four in 1 2/3 innings . . . and got a no-decision.

The White Sox’s Jamie Navarro was battered for 11 runs on 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings, leaving one to wonder if Manager Terry Bevington was punishing the right-hander or if the phone lines to the White Sox bullpen had gone dead.