For Scioscia, it’s all about where they are going

Mike Scioscia insisted that he never looks at the standings in the American League West.

“Are we in first place?” the Angels’ manager asked, eliciting a few hoots from the reporters gathered around him before Wednesday’s game.

Continuing with that theme, he said he also said he never looks at his team’s record. The only way he’d hazard a guess, he said, would be “if someone tries to take away my mostaccioli.”

The threat of pasta deprivation finally motivated him to offer an estimate of his team’s wins and losses. He was off on both counts.

“I was close enough, I think,” he said, laughing.

For Scioscia’s information, the Angels’ 9-6 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday left them with 66 wins and 47 losses and cut their lead over Seattle to three games.

In typical Angels’ fashion, they poked nine singles among their 11 hits and scored two runs in the fourth inning on only one hit, making the most out of a pair of walks and a double steal. But in atypical fashion, they gave away the lead twice and couldn’t come back in the late innings, delighting the always-vocal contingent of Red Sox fans that show up at Angel Stadium when their team is doing well.

The Red Sox, who have been hearing the Yankees’ thunderous footsteps behind them in the AL East and seemed intent on giving away what was a 12-game lead on July 5, actually extended their margin to six games.

Their customary choke was halted for one day, at least. Maybe salvaging the last game of the three-game series will give the Red Sox renewed vigor against the onrushing Yankees, who have had a somewhat soft schedule lately.

The Angels were assured of remaining in first place no matter the outcome Wednesday. Today is the 92nd straight day -- since May 9 -- that they’ve had sole possession of first place. They’ve led or shared the division lead for 119 of 129 days this season.

But to Scioscia, where the Angels are in the standings is not important.

“If I know what our record is, does that change anything we need to do tonight?” he said. “There’s no sense in looking at them. They’re not going to affect what we need to do. . . .

“It’s not who we’re playing or where we’re playing but how we’re playing.”

That has been his mantra for most of his tenure here, if not all of it. What matters isn’t where the Angels are, but where they’re going.

With that in mind, Scioscia said he won’t feel compelled to check the standings for another few weeks, when he will have to start thinking about setting up the pitching rotation and finding spots to keep players fresh leading up to what he hopes will be a long postseason run.

“It becomes relevant as you get probably into early to mid-September, when you start getting into matchups and what you need to do,” he said.

“If there’s going to be some favorable things you could do with your rotation, or maybe it’s not the time to give a guy a day off. There’s a lot more things to consider as you’re getting toward the end of this season. Aug. 8 is not the time.”

That time may arrive a month from now, after the Angels have played at Toronto and Boston and at Seattle again and return home for a potentially telling homestand against Texas, Oakland and Cleveland.

“We’d probably start to maybe look at some things a little closer there, especially when it comes to matchups,” he said. “We’ve adjusted things almost every year we’ve been here, toward the end, when we realize what we’ll need.”

They will probably need more of what has gotten them this far: aggressive baserunning, sterling defense, a superb setup man and terrific closer. They’ll also need more of the attitude Scioscia has tried to impart every day, as he learned it and lived it.

“When I was playing, teams were workmanlike, businesslike. You played hard. You poured yourself into that game and moved on,” he said.

“That’s where I got through tough stretches. Just turn the page. . . . It helped me and these guys, I think it’s helped them.”

Every team he has managed has had a different personality, he said. This season’s version has remained stoic and steadfast after the eight-game lead it built in June had dwindled to one game on July 21. He sees no reason to believe that will change.

“I like the approach not looking at the standings, just focusing on going out there and winning,” he said. “Challenge yourself to make plays. Don’t worry about making mistakes. You play your best when you’re in that mind set.”

The Angels didn’t play their best on Wednesday. Far from it. But they can’t waste time dwelling on that, not with the standings soon to become so vital that even Scioscia will have to pay attention.

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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.