Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Angels don't hit a lick
MINNEAPOLIS — Two days off, and suddenly the Anaheim Angels stopped hitting. They don't expect their one-game slump to last long.
After battering the New York Yankees for a postseason-record .376 batting average last week, the Angels returned to earth with a resounding thud in a 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins in Game 1 of the AL championship series on Tuesday night.
The Angels averaged 14 hits and nearly eight runs against the likes of Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina and David Wells in eliminating the four-time defending AL champion Yankees in the division series.
They couldn't do a thing against Minnesota's Joe Mays, especially after the third inning when they scored their only run on an error by shortstop Cristian Guzman.
To a man, the Angels pointed to Mays as the reason for their lack of offense.
“We're disappointed in ourselves, but you've got to give credit to Joe Mays,” David Eckstein said. “He threw a dominant game.”
When asked how he could classify the performance dominating since Mays had only three strikeouts, Eckstein replied: “By his control. He did that against us last year. When you have control, you can do that.”
The Angels mustered only four singles in eight innings against Mays and one against Eddie Guardado, who pitched a hitless ninth.
Anaheim hit 10 doubles and nine homers along with 37 singles in the four games against the Yankees.
“Mays threw great, obviously,” said losing pitcher Kevin Appier, who allowed five hits and two runs in five innings. “He kept us down, and that's not an easy thing to do.”
Adam Kennedy and Eckstein hit two-out singles in the third before Guzman booted Darin Erstad's easy grounder, allowing Kennedy to score.
After Brad Fullmer's two-out single in the fourth, Mays and Guardado combined to retire 14 straight batters until Tim Salmon walked with one out in the ninth.
But Garret Anderson flied out and Troy Glaus struck out looking to end the game.
“I never felt like I got any pitches I wanted to take swings at,” Salmon said. “Every once in a while, you run into a guy who throws a game like that. The guy threw a great game.”
Mays gave up nine hits and six earned runs in 3 2-3 innings in Game 2 of the Twins' division series against Oakland.
He was a much different pitcher against the Angels, keeping the ball down and getting them to pound it into the ground.
Other than the error by Guzman, the Twins handled everything in sight.
Salmon, Anderson and Glaus, the Angels' 3-4-5 hitters, combined to go hitless in 11 at-bats. The trio went 17-for-53 with six homers and 14 RBIs against the Yankees.
“You get used to those guys producing so much, it's a surprise when that happens,” Kennedy said. “I wouldn't count on that happening for too long.
“We just didn't pressure them tonight. No extra-base hits, no pressure.”
The Angels, who led the majors with a .282 batting average during the regular season, batted .361 with two strikes against the Yankees. They were 0-for-14 with two strikes against the Twins.
“That's the best I've seen him throw in terms of location,” Erstad said of Mays. “He did a great job of not giving in in situations where we may have been ahead in the count.
“We've done so well all season separating every day. Today's over. It's 1-0, they've got an advantage. It's a seven-game series. We'll come back out tomorrow ready to play.”
Fullmer said the fact that the Angels haven't played in a few days as well as getting used to hitting in the Metrodome might have contributed.
But he quickly added: “That kind of performance can shut down on offense. We come back tomorrow and try to get one win here.”
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Angels don't hit a lick 
