BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Relief Appearance Is Grim for Crim

Chuck Crim got more than a defeat out of the Angels’ 9-6 loss to the San Francisco Giants Tuesday in Palm Springs. “I got my work in pitching with the bases loaded,” he said.

He entered a 5-5 game in the ninth inning. But a walk to Greg Litton and singles by Darren Lewis, Mike Felder, Steve Lake and Kevin Bass ended Crim’s day after one-third of an inning.

“It was a matter of walking the first hitter,” said Crim, who was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers last December to share the setup duties with Mark Eichhorn. “After that, I made some pitches and got ground balls, but I have no control over where they’re hit. If you’re left out there long enough, you’re going to make some pitches they’ll hit.”

Crim isn’t the only Angel reliever who has been hit hard lately. In their last 7 2/3 innings over three games, relievers have given up 12 earned runs.

“I hope this was one of those dead-arm, spring training, once-in-a-lifetime outings by Crimmer,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said after his team’s third consecutive loss. “He didn’t have much today. You go through a period when you have dead arms and legs, but I don’t think you go through a period of dead heads. It’s not going to happen often. Usually, Ike (Eichhorn) or Harv (Bryan Harvey) is going to finish these games off.”

The Angels had tied the score against Dave Righetti in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI double by Shawn Abner and Mike Fitzgerald’s two-run infield single. Gary DiSarcina drove in the final run during the bottom of the ninth, after Jim Myers relieved Righetti.

Angel starter Don Robinson solidified his hold on the fifth spot in the rotation despite giving up four runs and six hits in six innings. “I’m still not taking anything for granted,” he said. “I finally threw some breaking balls down and away, which I hadn’t done all spring, but I got hurt a couple of times.”

Outfielder Mark Davis, hampered by an arthritic elbow, was released. He appeared in only eight main-squad games and didn’t have a hit. He batted .278 for Edmonton last season with 13 home runs and 56 runs batted in.