Angels' anger management helps beat Red Sox

BOSTON – For all of its ancient charm and 21st-century restoration, Fenway Park has its flaws. None are as potentially toxic as the requirement that, at game's end, the umpiring crew departs the field via the visitors' dugout and down the same narrow runway that leads to the visiting clubhouse.

Talk about throwing chum to the sharks. Most nights, no problem. But when a close game ends with a controversial call, or in this case, what the Los Angeles Angels believed to be a missed call, the umpires may be required to run the gauntlet through a group of highly agitated men, an experience that can range from extremely unpleasant to potentially dangerous.

For the umpires that worked the series between the Angels and Red Sox, which ended Thursday night with the Angels salvaging the finale 4-3 after losing the first two games, their treatment a night earlier had been sufficiently disturbing enough that they asked the commissioner's office to investigate. Rick Reed, the plate umpire who had two chances to call a game-ending third strike on Red Sox pinch-hitter Nick Green(notes) and did not pull the trigger either time, admitted to a small group of reporters before Thursday's game that he might have missed a pitch. But he also criticized Angels coaches for behavior he said was "unprofessional and unbecoming of a Major League baseball team" as the umpires left the field.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia argues a call with second base umpire Tim Timmons on Wednesday.

(AP Photo)

Fines and possibly suspensions could be in the offing, for the coaches and perhaps Angels closer Brian Fuentes(notes), who walked Green to force in the tying run, then suggested afterward that umpires become timid and intimidated in Fenway's rabid atmosphere.

Manager Mike Scioscia was aghast at the notion that the Angels might be disciplined. On Thursday, he defended the behavior of his players and coaches, took exception to Reed's suggestion that he might have said something incendiary and raised questions about the comportment of one of the umpires, Mark Wegner, whom he accused of becoming confrontational.

"That's absolutely wrong," Scioscia said. "We had an emotional team, we respected their space, nobody followed them anywhere. It's a common stairway. Nobody followed them as they peeled off. Nobody did anything. It was an emotional clubhouse. Whatever they heard, they heard.

"A lot of it was not even directed at them. It was guys venting.''

When questions persisted, Scioscia's face noticeably reddened.

"Look, I'm not going to get tic for tac (sic)," he said. "I absolutely gave them a buffer zone. There's no one hand, this hand, that hand. They absolutely had a buffer zone going up, our guys were very emotional, upset, we were venting. Yeah, there was some profanity, but you know what? In an emotional game like that, there's going to be some venting that has to be done.

"Whatever Rick said, he's entitled to his opinion. Nobody threatened them. They had their space. They had a buffer zone that I created. I stopped our guys, told (the umpires), 'Get going, go ahead.' In fact, the last umpire, Mark Wegner, came back to confront one of our coaches. If anything, there's a little lesson in professionalism for Mark Wegner that needs to be discussed.''

Scioscia admitted he said something to Reed, but did so quietly. "What I said is between me and him,'' he said.

Fuentes, who was in the vortex of the storm Wednesday night, was summoned Thursday night to face David Ortiz(notes) with one out and the bases empty in the ninth inning to protect the lead the Angels had seized in the top of the inning.

Fuentes had walked Ortiz with two outs and nobody on the night before, triggering the chain of events that led to Green's bases-loaded, full-count walk and subsequent game-ending single by Alex Gonzalez. It was a devastating loss, made even more so by the knowledge that these teams almost certainly will meet again in October for the fourth time in six seasons, with the Red Sox taking nine of 10 from the Halos.

On Thursday night, Fuentes struck out Ortiz, and after giving up a single to Mike Lowell(notes), he retired pinch-hitter Rocco Baldelli(notes) on a fly ball to end it.

Angels closer Brian Fuentes, left, celebrates with teammate Howie Kendrick after beating the Red Sox.

(AP Photo)

"There's always that redemption after you blow a save, but at the same time in my heart of hearts, I felt that I didn't do so bad yesterday,'' Fuentes said. "I was confident going out that I was going to get the job done.

"It seemed (Wednesday) like we were pitching around him. He was swinging the bat pretty well, he'd hit the home run the night before. But tonight I said, 'Screw it, let's go right at him.' ''

Fuentes said he didn't believe he'd said anything the night before that would warrant disciplinary action.

"I don't think I said anything that was insulting to them,'' he said. "I'm not going to take it to a personal level. I was speaking about the emotions that are out there on the field and talking about sometimes the umpires get caught up emotionally in a game the same way we do. The crowd was going nuts, cheering, it's hard to make a call, make a decision one way or another. They get caught up in it the same way we do, I imagine. I don't know, I'm not an umpire.''

Fuentes acknowledged that an umpire might be insulted at the suggestion he was intimidated by the crowd.

"No doubt,'' he said. "I can understand that. But to clarify it even more, I think they get caught up emotionally. It's hard when there are 40,000 people screaming, and the spotlight's on them now. I threw the pitch already, and now the hitter's taking it, now the spotlight's on them. Now it's their turn, time to do their thing. I'm not saying their job is easy; it's not. I can't do what they do, and they can't do what I do. So there's mutual respect. I hope they don't take offense to that. I'm just stating my opinion.''

High emotion had roiled the Angels clubhouse in the wake of three straight losses to teams that they could well face if they intend to return to the World Series for the first time since 2002. They were beaten by the Yankees on Monday night in New York, then the two losses here. All three losses were marked by sloppy play. Ace John Lackey(notes) called out the Angels on Tuesday night for their lack of hitting and criticized first baseman Kendry Morales(notes) for failing to get an out on a bunt. Lackey compounded the mistake moments later when he threw Dustin Pedroia's(notes) bunt into left field.

On Wednesday night, center fielder Torii Hunter(notes) faulted the Angels for looking nervous, especially in their failure to turn two double plays.

"Show some (guts)," he'd said. "The last three days I've seen things I've never seen. If you're nervous, you're going to fail."

But Hunter appreciated the intestinal fortitude the Angels displayed Thursday.

"The mistakes we made Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we didn't make tonight," he said. "Howard (Kendrick) came through with some big hits, and that was nice."

But Hunter wouldn't bite when asked if the Angels needed this win to get the Red Sox out of their heads before October, insisting the AL West race isn't over even though the Texas Rangers are 6½ games behind his team.

"We've got to win our division first, man. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves," he said. "We got to focus on Texas. Texas takes three from us? We're that much closer, and here we are, sitting here naked, talking about Red Sox and the playoffs."

And the umpires. They weren't far from the minds of the Angels, even after they squeezed past the clubhouse to the safety of their own dressing room.