Angels’ Loss Is One Big Goof

The Angels went about the business of filling a blooper reel at Angel Stadium on Friday night, when they had intended to attend to more serious endeavors. Jose Guillen and David Eckstein each carved out his own installment.

Eckstein may have been the only Angel charged with an error after dropping the ball during a botched rundown play in the fourth inning, but his was not the only glum face in the clubhouse following a 4-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox before a sellout crowd of 43,771 that snapped the Angels’ four-game winning streak.

The first lapse came in the second, when Jason Varitek’s popup fell in short center field between Garret Anderson and second baseman Adam Kennedy, who decelerated after a long run seconds before the ball hit the grass.

Kelvim Escobar escaped the ensuing two-on, no-out jam by retiring the next three batters.

But there was no getting out of the bind Guillen put the Angels in after the left fielder broke in on Trot Nixon’s fourth-inning fly ball only to reverse course before the ball landed several feet behind him for a double. Varitek drove in Nixon with a single to left and later scored to give Boston a 3-0 lead.

“He lost it in the twilight,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said of Guillen. “That’s a tough sky.”

Pedro Martinez was nearly as hard on the Angels as their defense was, striking out eight in six innings and benefiting from two double plays. He held the Angels to two runs, one on Guillen’s 16th homer in the fourth that landed just out of the reach of leaping center fielder Johnny Damon.

Guillen pulled the Angels to within 3-2 in the sixth after drawing a two-out walk, stealing second and scoring on Darin Erstad’s single to center, and the Angels threatened in the seventh after putting runners on first and third with two out.

But reliever Alan Embree got Anderson to ground out to second, and Gabe Kapler homered against Scot Shields in the eighth to provide an insurance run as the Angels fell three games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West.

Kapler had been caught in a rundown between first and second base in the fourth after his run-scoring single. But Eckstein couldn’t handle a flip from second baseman Kennedy, allowing Kapler to take second.

There was more theater of the absurd in the seventh, when Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was ejected after arguing with home plate umpire Matt Hollowell about a called third strike.

Boston Manager Terry Francona raced onto the field in an attempt to restrain Ortiz and restore the peace, but Ortiz was ejected by Hollowell, prompting him to charge toward the umpire and point a finger in his face. After several Red Sox coaches held back Ortiz, he retreated to the dugout, where he grabbed two bats and flung them onto the field, nearly hitting an umpire with one.

Escobar (5-6) pitched six solid innings and lost another game in which he deserved a better fate, allowing eight hits and three runs, including a solo homer by Nomar Garciaparra leading off the second. Escobar walked three, struck out six and received little help from his teammates in the field.

“I kept my team in the ballgame for six innings,” Escobar said. “I think I would take that again. I’m very pleased with the way I threw.”