Angels Run Out of Comebacks

His pitches were better, crisper and tougher to hit at times, but that was small consolation. The bottom line was what mattered to Jim Abbott and, once again, it was not in his favor.

Abbott knows the Angels and their fans expect results. He also understands he’s letting them down. It happened again in the Angels’ 6-4 loss to Toronto before 22,979 Sunday at Anaheim Stadium.

This was not a dismal, depressing outing like the last time Abbott pitched at Anaheim Stadium two Sundays ago. It was marginally better than his start Tuesday at Kansas City.

But it was still a loss.

Abbott left his teammates with a 5-1 deficit in the sixth inning, and they couldn’t make the long trek back. The Angels had fallen behind in seven consecutive games yet rallied to win all seven, but that streak ended Sunday when Toronto closer Mike Timlin pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 innings to record his 11th save.

“We’re just hoping things go his way,” right fielder Tim Salmon said of Abbott, 1-10 with a 7.67 earned-run average. “Everybody is pulling for him. It just seems he’s not getting any breaks. He kept us in the game and gave us a shot to win the game. We just didn’t get the offense going.”

Salmon hit two of the Angels’ four bases-empty home runs. But they were unable to land a haymaker against Blue Jay starter Paul Quantrill.

In the end, the Angels’ lack of timely hitting wasn’t as damaging as the two-run homers Abbott gave up to Joe Carter, in the first inning, and Ed Sprague, in the sixth.

Abbott said he could live with the pitch Carter hit. It wasn’t a mistake like the one Sprague slammed over the left-field fence.

“For the most part, I was pretty happy with the pitches I threw today,” said Abbott, whose only victory was May 2 at Oakland. “I have my own evaluation of my performance. There are people in this organization, there are fans out there, who expect results, though.”

Watching on a TV in the clubhouse after giving up five runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings, Abbott could only hope the Angels would rally again. But Tim Wallach’s long drive to center that fell into Mike Huff’s glove a few feet short of the fence in the eighth inning was as close as they came.

Toronto pushed the lead to 6-4 on Alex Gonzalez’s run-scoring blooper to right in the ninth.

“I’m not trying to look back,” Abbott said. “If you keep looking back, if you keep adding this game on top of all the other games, it becomes a huge mountain that’s insurmountable.

“You need to put something on the board that’s satisfactory to someone else. I threw a lot better than I have in some of the past games. I’m encouraged. I’m not going to say we lost and I’m encouraged.”

The Angels continue to insist that the velocity on Abbott’s fastball has not changed for the worse in several seasons. Others have noticed a marked difference this year, though.

Carter, who hit his fifth homer in 51 at-bats against Abbott, was the latest to weigh in on the matter.

“It’s obvious his fastball is not what it was a couple of years ago,” Carter said. “With the Yankees [in 1993 and ‘94] it was real tough. It had about eight or nine mph more on it. His cut fastball is sliding, not cutting, and that makes all the difference.”

Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro made a similar evaluation after the Orioles hammered Abbott for six runs on five hits in only 2 1/3 innings June 2 at Anaheim.

Certainly, Abbott’s control was superior to that in his start against Kansas City. He gave up only four hits, but walked six, which led to a no-decision against the Royals. Sunday, Abbott walked only Sprague in the fourth inning. But he scored on a single by Sandy Martinez.

Abbott’s first pitch to Sprague in the sixth was more damaging. He intended to go down and away, but left the pitch up where Sprague could get it.