Angels Do Right Things, Lose, 10-6 : Baseball: They tailor lineup to face Mariner left-hander Johnson but can’t overcome first grand slam by Martinez.

Angel Manager Buck Rodgers, mindful of Seattle Mariner ace Randy Johnson’s dominance of left-handed hitters, started nine right-handers against the 6-foot-10 left-hander Saturday night.

“Johnson is no picnic for any left-hander, Ted Williams included,” Rodgers said. “He can put any left-hander in a slump.”

Rodgers’ intentions were good. His lineup didn’t seem to be during a 10-6 loss before 31,116 at Anaheim Stadium.

Batting third was left fielder Mike Fitzgerald (.182 entering the game). Batting fifth was third baseman Gary Gaetti (.163). Batting seventh was second baseman Bobby Rose (.218). And batting eighth was catcher Ron Tingley (.000).

Murderers Row it wasn’t. Misdemeanor Row would even be stretching it.

But sure enough, in this season of the unexpected for the Angels, they did plenty right, knocking Johnson around for eight hits, including two homers, and six runs.

They simply didn’t do nearly enough right on a night the Mariners could do little wrong offensively. Seattle had 14 hits against four pitchers.

It was the Angels’ third loss in a row and lowered their home record to 2-6, a mark that is beginning to befuddle the Angels.

“We just struggle at home, and I’m still trying to find out why,” left fielder Luis Polonia said. “I think we try too hard to win here, and things haven’t been working out. We relax on the road, but we don’t relax here.”

The Mariners seemed to be in a comfort zone after taking a 7-1 lead in the fifth, which seemed more than enough for Johnson, who was coming off two consecutive shutouts.

But the Angels scored five runs during the sixth on Rene Gonzales’ two-run homer to left-center field and Junior Felix’s three-run home run to left. Gaetti and Tingley also doubled and scored during the inning.

Felix’s blast came one inning after he had robbed Kevin Mitchell of a homer by leaping over the center-field fence and catching his drive during the fifth.

Jeff Nelson relieved Johnson after Felix’s homer and got Polonia, who was pinch-hitting, to ground to shortstop, ending the inning.

The Mariners then scored twice during the eighth against reliever Mark Eichhorn on RBI singles by Harold Reynolds, who had four hits, and Rich Amaral, and once in the ninth when Pete O’Brien homered against Brian Harvey.

The Angels threatened in the eighth when Gary DiSarcina was hit by a pitch and pinch-hitter Von Hayes walked with one out. But relief ace Mike Schooler came on to strike out Felix and retire Polonia on a groundout to end the inning.

Schooler, with the help of Ken Griffey’s diving catch of Hubie Brooks’ liner in center, retired the side in order in the ninth for his fifth save.

The Mariners won despite some shoddy fielding--their four errors helped the Angels score four unearned runs. But they took full advantage of some shaky Angel starting pitching.

Angel right-hander Joe Grahe lasted only 4 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits and seven earned runs and walking four. Four of those he walked eventually scored.

“Seattle has a good lineup, but the way I was pitching I could make any lineup look good,” Grahe said. “When you walk guys and go to deep counts, it doesn’t matter who you are. Any big-league lineup is going to hit you.”

The Angels had taken a 1-0 lead during the first inning on Brooks’ two-out single that scored Felix. The hit improved Brooks’ average to .555 (five for nine) and increased his RBI total to seven when batting with two out and runners in scoring position. It also ended Johnson’s consecutive scoreless innings streak at 18.

The lead was short-lived, though. Tino Martinez’s first career grand slam followed Mitchell’s walk, O’Brien’s single and Jay Buhner’s walk in the second.

The homer, which bounced off the top of the left-field fence and into the bleachers, marked the first grand slam by a Mariner against the Angels since Jeffrey Leonard hit one against Mike Witt on April 14, 1989.

The Mariners pushed the lead to 6-1 on Reynolds’ two-run double during the fourth inning and made the score 7-1 on O’Brien’s RBI single, which knocked Angel starter Joe Grahe out of the game. Grahe went 4 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits and seven runs, all earned.

The Angels Threatened against Johnson during the second, putting runners on first and second with none out and loading the bases with two out, but failed to score.