SALMON-DEFICIENT ANGELS LOSE ANAHEIM OFFENSE LACKING; LACKEY'S FIELDING COSTLY CLEVELAND 3, ANGELS 1.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

CLEVELAND - They don't make binoculars strong enough for the Angels to see first place from where they sit, but Sunday morning, his team in a 5-19 slide since the All-Star break, manager Mike Scioscia insisted with a straight face that the playoffs still were a possibility.

``This is not a tryout camp,'' he said of the Angels' final 46 games. ``We have not given up on the playoffs. We have not lost sight of our goal.''

Right around the time Scioscia was talking, designated hitter Tim Salmon was in a batting cage at Jacobs Field, fouling a ball off his left shin. Salmon was scratched from the lineup and taken to a hospital for X-rays.

And then, down yet another core player, the Angels went out and lost for the 14th time in 16 games, this time 3-1 to the Cleveland Indians.

The Angels are 16 games out of first place, losers of 20 of their past 25 and six of seven on this road trip. It was their 63rd loss, equaling their total for all of last season, and they're nine games under .500 (54-63) for the first time since 2001.

For those still scoring at home, here's how their medical report reads today:

Center fielder Darin Erstad (hamstring) is probably out for the year, like designated hitter Brad Fullmer (knee). Third baseman Troy Glaus has scrapped his rehabilitation assignment, and his sore right shoulder will be re-evaluated by the Angels training staff today in Anaheim; there is no guarantee he will return this season, either.

Sunday, catcher Bengie Molina reported no pain in his bruised thumb and returned to the lineup, but Salmon's injury again forced the Angels to take Wite-Out to the lineup card.

Salmon said he'll be back in the lineup tonight, but that did the Angels no good Sunday against left-hander C.C. Sabathia, the Indians' lone All-Star this season. The tone was set in the second inning, when the Angels got one run out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation because Garret Anderson grounded into a double play.

Sabathia held them to four hits and one run in 5 2/3 innings. Jack Cressend and Rafael Betancourt shut them out from there, with Betancourt recording his first career save.

For the 13th time in 16 games, the Angels were held to two runs or less. It's clear they're trying to score runs with a hand tied behind their back.

Scioscia moved Anderson to third because Erstad's absence has created a table-setting void at the top of the lineup. Salmon was supposed to bat cleanup before his batting-cage mishap.

So Scott Spiezio, who bounces from first base to third and up and down the lineup based on medical charts and not strategic preferences, inherited the cleanup spot. But Spiezio said there's still no excuse for the club's lagging lineup.

``It's obvious we're playing without three or four of our big-name players,'' he said. ``But we owe it to our fans and to ourselves to play like we're capable of playing. We've still got a pretty good lineup.''

Angels starter John Lackey, meanwhile, gave the game away in the third inning, when he mishandled a sacrifice-bunt attempt, loading the bases, and then threw high to home plate on a tailor-made double-play ball.

That kept the inning alive long enough for Jody Gerut to drop a two-out, two-run single into left field for a 3-1 lead, and for the 17th time in 25 starts, Lackey had given up at least three runs in a single inning.

He didn't give up another run in seven decent innings of work, but his error on the bunt was more than the Angels lineup could overcome.

``You've got to be accountable for what you do,'' said Lackey (7-11), who didn't give up an earned run. ``If I handle my own business, it's probably 1-1. You can't worry about guys being out of the lineup. They're busting their butts, trying to score runs.''

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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Photo:

Angels first baseman Robb Quinlan tags out Cleveland's Jody Gerut on a pickoff in the eighth.

Mark Duncan/Associated Press