A bad walk-off loss for Angels

It’s a sight that has become all too familiar and painful for the Angels since the 2005 playoffs -- an injured Bartolo Colon being escorted off the mound by Manager Mike Scioscia and athletic trainer Ned Bergert.

That scene was replayed in Angel Stadium on Sunday, when Colon was removed with a three-run lead in the eighth inning of a game he was dominating. But the right-hander’s discomfort was nothing compared to the anguish the Angels experienced after Colon’s departure.

A.J. Pierzynski, one of the most reviled opponents in recent Angels history, pierced the heart of the Angels bullpen and silenced a hostile crowd, hitting a game-tying, pinch-hit, two-run homer off Scot Shields in the eighth inning and an RBI single off closer Francisco Rodriguez in the 10th to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 4-3 victory.

“Bart pitched a great game,” Scioscia said after the Angels lost for only the second time this season when leading after seven innings. “It’s a shame we let it slip away at the end.”

About the only good news for the Angels was that Colon’s injury -- diagnosed as a mild strain of the right triceps -- did not appear to be serious or related to the rotator-cuff tear that knocked him out for most of 2006 and the shoulder tear that ended his 2005 season.

“I felt it on and off throughout the game, but on that last pitch I threw, it tightened up a lot,” Colon said through an interpreter. “But I’m not worried, because I’ve had this in the past and have been able to pitch with it. God willing, I will be able to make my next start.”

Colon said the pain was about halfway between his shoulder and elbow and could have been caused by altering his mechanics to compensate for a tender left ankle, which he injured in his first game this season.

The Angels are off today, so Colon will have an extra day of rest before his next start, and as of Sunday afternoon, Scioscia said there were no plans for Colon to undergo an MRI test today.

“Right now, it’s tough to evaluate,” Scioscia said. “He has as much chance of making his next start as of not making it. We’ll take it day by day and see how he feels.”

Colon needed only 82 pitches to blank the White Sox on three hits through seven innings, throwing first-pitch strikes to 20 of 23 batters, and took what appeared to be a commanding 3-0 lead against the American League’s feeblest offense -- last in average, last in runs -- into the eighth.

Robb Quinlan, making his eighth start of the season, provided the bulk of the Angels’ offense, hitting a run-scoring double in the fourth and a solo home run to left field in the sixth, both hits coming off left-hander Mark Buehrle.

But Joe Crede led off the eighth for the White Sox with a double to center, and Alex Cintron smacked a first-pitch single to right on a 93-mph fastball, advancing Crede to third.

Colon was pulled in favor of Shields. Second baseman Erick Aybar lost Ryan Sweeney’s popup in the sun, the ball dropping in shallow right field, but recovered to force Cintron at second, as Crede scored.

Pierzynski, hitting for Gustavo Molina, then drove an 0-and-1 Shields fastball over the wall in right for a two-run home run that tied the score, 3-3, and saddled Shields with his second blown save of the season.

Rodriguez threw a scoreless ninth and retired the first two batters of the 10th before Sweeney doubled to right. Rodriguez jammed Pierzynski, who fisted a bloop single just beyond the reach of third baseman Chone Figgins into shallow left field for the game-winner.

Chicago closer Bobby Jenks gave up a walk and a single in the bottom of the 10th but struck out Reggie Willits looking and Figgins swinging for his 10th save, ending a frustrating afternoon for the Angels, who left 14 on base and went one for 11 with runners on scoring position.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com