BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Wheels Getting a Little Wobbly

When the New York Yankees bombed the Angels and pitcher Chuck Finley last Tuesday, the left-hander said, “the wheels aren’t even beginning to squeak” on the Angels’ ride toward the division title. But that assessment changed somewhat after the Angels’ ninth loss in a row Sunday.

“We’ve got a couple of spokes loose, but we’re going to be all right,” Finley said. “We still have a [5 1/2-game] lead and those other teams have to catch us.”

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Finley was surprised to see Manager Marcel Lachemann ejected for the first time as a manager, and then kick a batting helmet onto the field in the fourth inning Sunday.

“I’ve never seen him go off like that,” Finley said. “But everyone has a [breaking] point. . . . But that’s the max you’ll get out of Lach. That’s not his style.”

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The Angels Sunday purchased the contract of right-handed pitcher Rich Monteleone from Vancouver. Monteleone, 33, was 1-0 with one save and a 3.24 earned-run average in seven appearances for the triple-A team.

Monteleone, who played with the Angels in 1988 and ‘89, pitched 1 1/3 of an inning in Sunday’s loss to the Red Sox, giving up one hit. He pitched this season for the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Central League but was cut Aug. 1.

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Angel center fielder Jim Edmonds (strained lower back) sat out his second consecutive game. . . . Red Sox third baseman Tim Naehring reached base 10 consecutive times against the Angels before finally popping out in the third. He went 8 for 10 in the series with a homer and four RBIs. . . . Boston won the season series, 11-3, from the Angels, including the last seven in a row.