ERRORS HURT ANGELS DEFENSE COSTS HALOS IN LOSS BALTIMORE 3, ANGELS 2.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA Staff Writer

BALTIMORE - One day the Angels just might look back at all of this and laugh. The reality is that nobody is laughing now.

Poor fielding and a lack of situational hitting continues to haunt the two-time defending American League West champions, who are in the midst of their first three-game losing streak of the young season after a 3-2 defeat Saturday to the Baltimore Orioles.

Chone Figgins and Jose Molina both made errors, and Figgins could have been charged with another. Bartolo Colon and third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo also missed plays that went for hits.

While outs on defense were hard to come by, productive outs on the offensive side also didn't materialize as expected. The most alarming missed opportunity was a squandered leadoff triple by Tim Salmon in the second inning when Alfonzo followed with a ground out to the pitcher, Molina popped out to short center field and Robb Quinlan struck out to end the inning.

"We didn't execute today and we played a poor ballgame," manager Mike Scioscia said. "That's the bottom line. Our guys, when we get into the flow and play consistent baseball, a day like this will be few and far between. That was a poor day all the way around. It was a poor day offensively. At the plate we had opportunities and we couldn't get it done."

Figgins led off the game with a double off Orioles starter Erik Bedard and scored on a line-drive double by Garret Anderson. Their only other run came in the fifth inning on a two-out double to left by Orlando Cabrera.

Bedard gave up two runs on eight hits as he followed teammate Rodrigo Lopez on Friday with back-to-back eight-inning outings.

Colon pitched well enough to challenge the Orioles' left-hander had it not been for a rough fifth inning from the defense. Colon gave up three runs (one earned) on eight hits in seven innings.

Jeff Conine gave the Orioles their first run in the fifth on a double to left. Two batters later he made a dash for the plate after a looping broken- bat line drive from Brian Roberts hit Figgins in the left arm as he leaped to catch the ball.

Figgins still had time to get Conine at the plate but his throw bounced off the glove of Molina and the score was tied 2-2. David Newhan followed with a comebacker that Colon bobbled for a hit and Melvin Mora then delivered the go-ahead single.

"Some crazy things are happening right now, but we're all right," Figgins said. "It was tough to see. The (successful) double play (in the third inning) I jumped too high and the ball ended up landing at my chest. I never played here in the daytime, so it was kind of tough."

The 4:30 p.m. start locally caused shadows and areas of sunlight that remained until the late innings.

Colon used it to his advantage, along with a fastball that finally looks to be up to speed. The right-hander had admitted he is cautious about throwing as hard as he can after coming off a shoulder injury but he was feeling good Saturday.

"Coming out of the bullpen I felt the best by far," Colon said through announcer Jose Mota, who was serving as an interpreter. "I was quite loose. Even though I felt like I was spotting the ball well, the couple of times I was up in the zone Jose Molina came up and reminded me to get the ball down.

"That's what happened in (the fifth inning) but overall I must say, it was a nice feeling out there on the mound."

Colon made an attempt to overcome the mental hurdle of throwing at top speed by altering his warm-up routine between innings. Colon tried to throw at top speed with the second-to-last warmup pitch before the bottom of the inning started.

"The one thing I had in mind today was to throw a lot of fastballs," he said. "But in order for me to feel comfortable and let it go, I have to throw a lot of fastballs."

Colon was understanding to the plight of the defense, which leads the American League with 12errors. It led the AL in fielding last season and trailed only the Seattle Mariners for least errors.

"I support them 100 percent because the guys are going to make a lot of plays for me," Colon said. "I really don't pay attention to much because the one thing I have come to realize is it's so much easier watching it from the dugout than being on the field. It's not an easy job to make those plays."

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Angels' Chone Figgins pulls back a bunt attempt in the eighth inning Saturday.

(2) Baltimore's Jeff Conine, right, slides home safely past Angels catcher Jose Molina in the fifth inning.

(3) The Orioles' Brian Roberts crosses home plate with the decisive run in the fifth inning on a hit by Melvin Mora in Baltimore's 3-2 victory over the Angels on Saturday.

Chris Gardner/Associated Press

Box:

ANGELS at BALTIMORE

- Doug Padilla