truebluefan

Ervin Santana had no problem Wednesday living up to his title as the best Angels pitcher not currently showing off his abilities at Triple-A.

Scot Shields, on the other hand, was unable to field his position and opened the door for the Colorado Rockies to take control.

Shields followed a solid outing by Santana by allowing four runs in the eighth inning - three on a bases-clearing double by Notre Dame High of Sherman Oaks' product Jorge Piedra - as the Rockies won 6-2 in the finale of a three-game series.

Afterward, manager Mike Scioscia fretted not over another fielding chance gone astray, but of missed opportunities that would have changed the complexion of the game. The Angels missed scoring chances in the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings that loomed large in what was a tight game at the time.

"It's 180 degrees from certainly what we need and what we expect," Scioscia said of the five runners left in scoring position by the sixthinning. "I think you can absorb a little bit of lack of power, you can absorb a little bit of lack of on-base percentage, as long as you're pushing that on-base percentage into scoring position and you're hitting very well with runners in scoring position.

"Our problem is, we're really, really soft in too many areas. We've worked hard to address it. Some of it is inexperience and some of it is guys flat out not in sync in the batter's box."

Every time the Angels look like they might start to find their way this season they manage to slide backward. After winning three of four from the Kansas City Royals on the last homestand, the Angels have gone 5-7.

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