Angels Mourn Big Loss : Baseball: Langston, in particular, feels loss of Reese, and he also loses to the Orioles, 3-2.

Angel starter Mark Langston, who hates to talk, much less acknowledge anyone on the days he pitches, abruptly stopped his warm-up pitches in the bullpen.

He walked toward the outfield fence Thursday night and intently watched the video board, unwilling to miss a moment of the tribute to his dear friend, Jimmie Reese.

There was no one closer to Reese than Langston on the current roster. They were nearly inseparable in spring training, and every time Langston won the Gold Glove, he made sure that everyone knew that Reese was responsible for the award.

This is what made it so painful for Langston on Thursday night, with the game he wanted so badly to win, ending in a 3-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, in front of 18,821 fans at Anaheim Stadium.

“It’s still hard to believe he’s not here,” Langston said. “He was such an important part of everything we do in this organization.

“I can’t tell you how much we’re going to miss him.”

Langston had pitched brilliantly the entire game, extending his scoreless streak against the Orioles to 25 innings--and not allowing a single baserunner to reach third--until everything unraveled at once in the eighth inning.

Chris Sabo ended Langston’s shutout by leading off the eighth with a homer into the left-field seats. Rafael Palmeiro ended Langston’s chances of victory by following with a mammoth homer into the right-field seats, measured at 435 feet.

Langston retired Cal Ripken and Chris Hoiles, but then walked Leo Gomez, who went to second on a wild pitch. Chris Hammonds then followed with a single to left.

Left fielder Jim Edmonds picked the ball up cleanly, and made a perfect throw to the plate. Home-plate umpire Larry McCoy was starting to signal Gomez out at the plate when Gomez kicked the ball out of catcher Greg Myers’ glove for a 3-1 lead.

Angel reliever Mark Leiter entered the game and prevented any further damage, but it was too late, the Angels (38-52) were on their way to another loss, once again giving them the American League’s worst record.

Meanwhile, Oriole starter Ben McDonald (11-6) won for the first time since June 17, yielding five hits through eight innings, surviving a scare in the eighth when left fielder Jack Voigt caught Chili Davis’ potential two-run homer atop the left-field fence. McDonald stepped aside for Lee Smith in the ninth inning, who saved his 30th game of the season despite allowing a run on a single by Myers.

Not even Reese could rescue the Angels.

Reese, their beloved 92-year-old coach who died Wednesday morning, was on all of the players’ minds when they convened for their first game since the All-Star break.

They saw Reese’s jersey folded neatly in a picture frame sitting inside his locker, and they quietly put on their warm-up jerseys with black patches embroidered with No. 50, honoring Reese.

They smiled after batting practice when they asked where their games uniforms were, and informed that they wouldn’t be available until Saturday. They would be wearing their blue warm-ups, in honor of Reese.

The Angels had been informed that they need approval by major league baseball to wear a patch above their heart on their game uniform honoring Reese. So they improvised. Wearing their warm-up jerseys with a patch on their left sleeve.

They will also wear the practice jersey tonight, hoping that by Saturday major league baseball will inform them where they can apply their honorary patch, considering their two uniform sleeves already are taken.

The Angels, who had a moment of silence before the game, also passed out Jimmie Reese memorial buttons to their ushers and front-office executives.