Angels’ offense sputters again in 4-1 loss to A’s

OAKLAND —  With slugger Vladimir Guerrero out of the lineup, “We’re going to have to get creative,” Mike Scioscia said, but it would take a team of top animators from DreamWorks to make a hit out of the raw material the Angels manager is working with these days.

The Little Engine that Couldn’t generated virtually no steam again Tuesday night, managing four hits in a 4-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics in McAfee Coliseum, the Angels’ fifth loss in a row and seventh in eight games since a 5-1 start.

Oakland shortstop Bobby Crosby keyed a four-run fourth inning with a three-run home run to spoil Angels right-hander Jered Weaver’s 2007 debut, and Chad Gaudin, the A’s No. 4 starter, gave up one run and four hits over 7 2/3 innings for the win.

The Angels have been outscored 41-16 on the trip and are batting .222 with 19 runs in their last nine games, an average of 2.1 a game. They’re batting .163 (14 for 86) with runners in scoring position during the stretch and .207 (24 for 116) with runners in scoring position on the season.

“We’ve got to end those give-away at-bats -- there’s been a lot of them this past week,” Scioscia said, echoing comments he made in a brief post-game team meeting. “We’ve got to get back into counts, foul some pitches off, get some pitches to hit.”

On a blustery Tuesday night, with winds gusting up to 34 mph, Angels hitters were retired 11 times in two pitches or less. In an 8-0 loss to Boston and ace Curt Schilling Saturday, the Angels had 10 one- or two-pitch at-bats.

“We’re swinging at the pitcher’s pitch in hitter’s counts,” Scioscia said. “We’re not giving ourselves a chance when we’re behind in counts. We’ve been expanding the strike zone. We’ve been searching.”

Guerrero’s absence -- he will miss the Oakland series because of a bruised right wrist -- was felt immediately. Gary Matthews Jr., led off the game with a single and Maicer Izturis walked, but instead of Guerrero coming up, shortstop Orlando Cabrera stepped to the plate.

Badly fooled by a Gaudin off-speed pitch, Cabrera swung meekly for strike three. Garret Anderson struck out on a changeup, and Howie Kendrick struck out looking at a fastball. Inning over.

The Angels put two on with two out in the second before Matthews grounded out, and Gaudin retired 12 straight before hitting Kendrick in the left hand with a pitch to open the seventh. Kendrick, who departed in the ninth and will undergo X-rays today, was retired on Casey Kotchman’s double-play grounder.

Gaudin lost his shutout when Reggie Willits singled in the eighth, stole second and scored on Izturis’ double to left.

“We think we’re going to change everything with one swing, and we can’t do that,” Cabrera said. “We have to keep our heads up, keep battling, make adjustments at the plate, get into hitter’s counts.”

Weaver, slowed this spring by shoulder tightness, gave up one hit through three innings but ran into trouble in the fourth when Eric Chavez led off with a double and Mike Piazza walked, with Chavez taking third on a wild pitch.

Todd Walker flied to left, Chavez holding, but Crosby drove a 2-and-1 hanging curve over the wall in left-center for a 3-0 lead.

“I wouldn’t even call it a bad pitch -- I’d call it a stupid pitch,” Weaver said. “It was the wrong pitch to throw in that count.”

Travis Buck popped a fly down the line in left, but Anderson, after a long run, dropped it for his first error since July 17, 2005. Jason Kendall singled to center to make it 4-0.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com