A Familiar Feeling for Lewis, Angels : Baseball: He loses his fourth in a row, and they fall, 5-1, to Orioles and McDonald.

BALTIMORE —  Scott Lewis didn’t lose his spot in the Angels’ rotation Friday when he lost his fourth consecutive start.

The rookie right-hander remains convinced he’s not being overwhelmed by major league hitters, and Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann agreed the difference between failure and success for Lewis hasn’t been huge.

“It’s not like he’s getting his brains beat out,” Lachemann said. “It’s just making a couple of key pitches.”

Unable to make those pitches Friday night, Lewis gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings as the Angels fell to Ben McDonald and the Orioles, 5-1, at Memorial Stadium.

Lewis (1-4) hasn’t won since beating the A’s on April 18, 7-1, and he hasn’t held an opponent scoreless for the first three innings in any of his seven starts. His earned-run average is 6.21.

“I continue to get killed by two-out runs and one big inning,” he said. “It seems to be the fifth inning that there’s something uncannily happening every game.”

The Angels gave him a run in the first inning on Luis Polonia’s triple and Wally Joyner’s sacrifice fly--Joyner later had an infield hit to extend his hitting streak to 13 games--but Lewis gave up runs in the first and third innings and three with two out in the fifth.

“I was hoping for better, to be honest,” Lachemann said.

Asked whether he felt any temptation to replace Lewis in the rotation with Jeff Robinson or Floyd Bannister, Lachemann paused. “Right now there isn’t,” he said.

The temptation might take root soon.

“Unfortunately, Scotty just threw too many pitches that were hittable,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said. “He really didn’t throw all that terribly, but when he made a mistake, it was up. . . . I know that’s the norm, but when Scotty seems to throw one, it seems to get redirected for a hit.”

The Angels managed only six hits off McDonald (2-2) and couldn’t capitalize on most of the occasions they got runners into scoring position.

Dave Winfield followed Joyner’s first-inning sacrifice fly with a double, but Dave Parker flied to left and Gary Gaetti grounded to third. Polonia singled with one out in the third inning, stole second and then third after Joyner flied out, but Winfield walked and Parker flied out to center.

Parker, who has one hit in his last 17 at-bats, is batting .177. He’s six for 35 (.171) with runners in scoring position, numbers he’s not used to after driving in 97 and 92 runs the past two seasons.

“This is the worst slump I’ve ever had, without a doubt,” Parker said. “I can’t recall any this bad. . . .

“It’s frustrating not to be driving in runs. I like Doug and I like the personnel here, and it’s really frustrating for me not to be producing for that guy and for my teammates. I’ve got to keep fighting it, and hopefully something will click.”

Things have clicked for McDonald in his two starts against the Angels this season, but not against the rest of the league. Both of his victories have come over the Angels, the first when he pitched six shutout innings May 3 at Anaheim in a 2-0 Baltimore triumph. His earned-run average against the Angels is 0.60; against everyone else, it’s 10.12.

“It’s just that I’ve had good stuff when I go out against them,” said McDonald, who wasn’t bothered Friday by the mild stiffness he had after his previous start. “It’s weird. Certain guys will hit all the time off you and certain guys you own. I don’t think there’s any great matchup there.”

McDonald avoided a possibly dangerous matchup in the seventh inning Friday. Dick Schofield had reached on an infield hit and taken third when Mike Devereaux misplayed Polonia’s fly ball to center. With Joyner--the major leagues’ leading hitter--coming up, McDonald faked a throw to third and drew Polonia into making a dash to second. He had no chance.

“I’ve tried that a few times in college but not here,” McDonald said. “I knew Polonia had stolen two bags and might try again, so I figured I’d give it a shot. Joyner’s their hottest hitter, so why not try?”

Oriole Manager Frank Robinson tried unsuccessfully to control his sarcasm after the game, mentioning how local newspapers suggested McDonald might be ailing because of his stiff arm.

“It was a great game considering the headlines I woke up to this morning. I thought I was going to have to amputate Ben McDonald’s arm,” Robinson said. “I said, ‘What else can go wrong?’ I thought he was going to have to pitch left-handed.”

Lewis doesn’t intend to make any changes in the way he pitches.

“There’s no reason to. That’s when bad things happen--when you lose faith in what got you here,” he said. “I’m just going to be myself. . . . This is the first part of my career where I’m up against something I can’t overcome at the moment. Maybe this is a test of character. I’ve had too many good innings to let one bad inning here or there make me lose confidence in myself.”