Angels Find a Bad Spot : Baseball: Pitching fails in fifth loss in six games as Anderson gives up three nearly identical homers. A’s prevail, 5-1.

Brian Anderson propped up his tired, ice-encased left arm and began to feign anger with a particular fan sitting in a particular spot Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum.

“For crying out loud, the guy was making out like a bandit,” Anderson said after the Angels’ 5-1 loss to Oakland.

Anderson made three mistakes to Oakland hitters, and all three wound up in the glove of a fan sitting in the front row of the left-center-field bleachers.

Or so Anderson claimed.

Stan Javier homered in the third, Geronimo Berroa homered in the sixth and Craig Paquette homered in the seventh--all in roughly the same spot with the bases empty.

“That was making me mad,” Anderson said. “Mix them around the park at least. I made three mistakes. Sometimes they pop them up or hit a double, but they went out of the park today.”

Anderson, making his third start after sitting out six weeks because of a strained left biceps, didn’t pitch poorly other than that. But neither he nor the Angels could overcome his three bad pitches.

“He’s better than that,” Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “There wasn’t a lot of sharpness today. The best one was his first start. He pounded the outside corner. He needs to go that with consistency.”

Anderson, 1-2 with a 5.27 earned-run average, defeated Kansas City, throwing a three-hitter in 6 1/3 innings in his first start after coming off the disabled list June 20. He lost his second start last Monday, giving up seven runs and eight hits against Seattle.

“I felt a lot better today than in Seattle,” said Anderson, who has given up six homers in his last two starts. “I felt great, strong, but a little erratic. I had a better feel for the changeup and the breaking ball. They had a lot of popups on the changes.”

Anderson lasted seven innings, giving up five runs and six hits with three strikeouts and three walks.

Besides Chuck Finley, the Angel rotation hasn’t exactly been overwhelming on this trip through the American League West. Only Finley has held an opponent to fewer than four runs, and he lost a pitchers’ duel to Seattle’s Randy Johnson, 3-2, June 24.

If there’s a reason why the Angels have lost five of the last six and six of nine on this trip, it’s probably their pitching.

Certainly, they miss designated hitter Chili Davis and his .359 batting average, nine homers and 38 RBIs. Davis’ strained left hamstring is expected to heal soon. The recent attack on Angel pitching might have lingering effects, although Anderson said that might not be all bad.

“You know, this is a good wake-up call,” Anderson said. “We’ve been playing about perfect. We went on this road trip and you could see they [Oakland, Texas and Seattle] weren’t going to lie down for us. These guys have put up a heck of a fight. Nobody is giving us anything. They’re coming right at us.

“Maybe we have to take it personally. Right now, everybody’s close and thinks they have a chance at it [first place].”

Anderson wasn’t the only one praising the AL West.

Across the clubhouse, Rex Hudler offered a similar assessment.

“Heck yeah, I’d rather face the East,” said Hudler, who slipped to one for 18 on the trip by striking out twice and grounding out.

Oakland starter Todd Stottlemyre (7-1) didn’t look particularly overpowering in giving up three hits in seven innings. But Hudler later made him out to be Cy Young.

“I’m going bad right now, but he made me feel like a rookie out there,” Hudler said.

The only run Stottlemyre gave up came on J.T. Snow’s homer with one out in the fourth.

“He was tough,” Hudler said. “He had a sharp slider and a good fastball. Our scouting report didn’t have him throwing that hard. He got a little wild, but we couldn’t take advantage of it.”

Dennis Eckersley entered the game with one out in the ninth and quickly retired Tony Phillips and Gary DiSarcina, recording his 311th save and breaking a tie with Goose Gossage for fourth on the all-time list. He has 17 saves this season.