Edition: U.S. / Global

BASEBALL; Yankees' Hopes for Playing in the Post-Season Take Another Pounding

Published: August 21, 1995

Puzzled and punished by another collision at the plate, Mike Stanley sat in the dirt with his head dangling as a trainer hovered over him with smelling salts. His pain and confusion were evident and the picture was strangely symbolic of the scoreboard pain the Angels inflicted upon the Yankees in a 10-5 victory and of the confusion New York feels as its season crumbles through a devastating stretch.

Stanley was rammed in the back of the head during his unsuccessful blockade against Damion Easley in the second inning. The catcher was replaced an inning later because he had a mild concussion. On a day the Angels exploited the sluggish Yankees with their aggressiveness, some of Stanley's teammates wished they could have followed him to the clubhouse because Mark Langston was almost unhittable from the second to the seventh inning while Sterling Hitchcock was very hittable all afternoon.

After Bernie Williams's two-run homer in the first pushed the Yankees ahead, the Angels did not panic. Why should they? Racing through a memorable season, the Angels possess the swagger of the 1994 Yankees, and Hitchcock was merely their latest victim. Before the fifth inning ended, the left-hander was in the dugout shaking his head after being burned for homers by Jim Edmonds and Garret Anderson and surrendering eight runs to the Angels at Anaheim Stadium.

The pennant race, which is really a wild-card race for the Yankees, who are a season-high 11 1/2 games behind the Red Sox, continues motoring by them. The Yankees have lost 3 straight series, have lost 12 of their last 18 and have fumbled away 6 games in the American League East standing in only 12 days. Fans should keep a keen eye on the Rangers, who lead the Yanks by 2 1/2 games for the wild-card berth.

"The games are dwindling," Yankees Manager Buck Showalter said. "There's not any margin for error. It's a situation we've created. It's going to be a scrap. I just hope we're involved with it."

Most of Hitchcock's pitches belonged on the scrap heap as he walked four, gave up eight hits and caused Showalter to say, "He didn't have command of any of his pitches."

Edmonds, the m.v.p. candidate who had four hits and three runs batted in, is the embodiment of the confident Angel. The Yankees might not relish his stylish habits, but they must appreciate how he plays. And it was the way the gambling Angels played that helped them negate an early deficit.

After Edmonds doubled with one out in the first and skipped to third on Hitchcock's wild pitch, he daringly tried to score on Chili Davis's short fly to right and succeeded. Paul O'Neill made a decent throw, but Edmonds noticed that the right fielder was not in proper position and exploited that.

"I saw him standing there flat-footed," Edmonds said. "I know as an outfielder that sometimes you don't expect guys to run. I was just trying to do something to spark the team."

It worked. One inning later, Easley had a two-out single and tried to steal second when Tony Phillips singled to a perfect place in right-center field because neither Bernie Williams nor O'Neill moved swiftly to the ball. Third-base coach Rick Burleson waved Easley in because Williams lobbed in the relay throw to Pat Kelly, whose back was to home. Kelly's throw home beat the runner, but Easley kicked the ball out of Stanley's glove and flattened him with his right forearm.

"That's our style," Easley said. "If they're going to throw us out, we're going to make it aggressive rather than passive."

Stanley, who might not play Monday when the Yanks visit Oakland, called the play clean.

"Something hit me behind my head and ear," he said. "I wasn't out. I was just taking it real easy."

Even though Showalter contended that the Angels did not surprise the Yankees, Stanley said that New York was caught "off guard," while an angry O'Neill conceded, "Both guys should have been out at the plate."

Edmonds followed the collision with a run-scoring single, and he pounded Hitchcock for a two-out, two-run homer in the fourth to put the Yankees in a 5-2 hole and increase his season totals to 29 homers and a major league-leading 95 r.b.i. Anderson's three-run blast off Hitchcock and Greg Myers's two-run shot off Joe Ausanio came in a five-run fifth and made it a 10-2 game.

Langston retired 17 of 20 batters after Williams's homer in winning for the 10th time in 11 decisions. The Yankees scored twice off Langston in the seventh, but the outcome had been decided because the Angels stole runs and hit home runs.

For the Yankees, there was only more pain and more confusion. INSIDE PITCH

BERNIE WILLIAMS's 15th homer was New York's first in six games on the trip as his torrid hitting continued. . . . PAUL O'NEILL and DON MATTINGLY, who had two hits apiece for the Yankees, have struggled, but Williams is hitting .333 since the All-Star Game break. Mattingly ended an 0-for-14 drought by singling in the seventh. It was Mattingly's first hit in 19 at-bats against California. O'Neill is batting .246 since the break. . . . TONY FERNANDEZ has a stiff right knee and RANDY VELARDE injured his left ankle after they collided while chasing a pop-up in left field in the sixth. Velarde will have X-rays when the team reaches Oakland.

Photo: Angels' Damion Easley colliding with Mike Stanley in the second inning. The Yankee catcher left with a mild concussion in the third. (Associated Press)