WRONG FORMULA FOR L.A. MISCUES, LACK OF OFFENSE A BAD MIX IN LOSS TO ROYALS KANSAS CITY 4, ANGELS 3.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- The volatile mix the Angels have concocted all season blew up in their faces once again.

A lack of offense combined with mistakes in the field are a major reason the Angels are in last place this season and certainly what was to blame for Wednesday's 4-3 defeat to the lowly Kansas City Royals at Angel Stadium.

The Angels managed to get just one runner past first base after a three-run second inning and a Chone Figgins error in the sixth inning helped the Royals get even before they took the lead in the eighth.

It was only the seventh road victory of the season for the Royals.

``On the offensive side, if you're not doing enough to absorb maybe a mistake a pitcher makes or a mistake in the field, they're going to show up,'' manager Mike Scioscia said. ``When we were scoring some runs a couple of weeks ago and having a consistent offense, some plays that weren't made were absorbed and you didn't notice it.

``When you struggle to put offense together, every little blip is going to show up on that radar.''

Robb Quinlan took advantage of a rare start with a three-run home run to put the Angels up 3-1 in the second inning. It would be the only mistake of the night by Royals starter Mark Redman (3-4), who gave up just four hits over eight innings.

Redman's success gave his team enough time to time to rally, and they broke through in the sixth.

John Buck led off inning with a single and was followed by David DeJesus, who hit a grounder to Figgins. From one knee, Figgins' throw to Maicer Izturis at the second-base bag was wide and went into right field.

Grudzielanek then delivered an RBI single and Doug Mientkiewicz followed that with a run-scoring groundout to second base.

Scioscia would have preferred that Figgins get to his feet and get the the the lead runner at second instead of pushing for a double play.

``Figgy was trying to be aggressive and you're not going to fault a guy for that, but I think the reality of it was that you're not going to double up DeJesus,'' Scioscia said. ``The force out is the right play but you have to get your feet set and make your throw. Figgy just reacted and got a little too aggressive.''

Angels starter Kelvim Escobar ended up with a no-decision, which was progress considering he had lost each of his last five starts. Not all has been bad during his losing streak, though.

Halfway through it, Escobar did sign a three-year extension worth $28.5 million. Once again, he just ended up with nothing to show for his effort. He entered the game with a 5-7 record, but he did have a 3.72 ERA.

``All I have to do is to keep throwing and hopefully my luck is going to turn around,'' Escobar said. ``It's tough. I think I'm throwing the ball well enough to get a `W'. But this is baseball and you can't control that.''

Escobar was locked in after a Mark Grudzielanek home run in the first inning, as he retired 14 of the next 15 Royals batters. That led directly into the fateful sixth inning.

``Obviously, you want to go out there and be consistent,'' Escobar said. ``It's tough.''

The Royals pushed across the go-ahead run against Scot Shields. DeJesus opened the eighth with a single, and after a sacrifice bunt and a groundout he was on third. A walk to Reggie Sanders was followed by an RBI single from Matt Stairs for a 4-3 lead.

Ambiorix Burgos came on in the ninth and recorded his ninth save, but not without a scare.

Vladimir Guerrero was on second base with one out, but a walk to Mike Napoli and a double-play grounder by Darin Erstad ended it.

Scioscia was using his 49th different lineup in 65 games as he searches for offense.

``We hit some balls hard and we squared some balls up, we just didn't get those hits to bunch up together,'' Scioscia said. ``Outside of (Quinlan's) home run, not a lot in between. But I'll tell you what, the linescore, I don't think, shows how hard we hit the ball tonight.''

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Photo:

Kansas City's Matt Stairs watches his run-scoring single off Angels pitcher Scot Shields in the eighth inning. Stairs' hit scored David DeJesus and snapped a 3-3 tie.

Francis Specker/Associated Press

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ANGELS vs. KANSAS CITY

-Doug Padilla