Abbott, Angels in Form : Baseball: He pitches well, they play miserably behind him, as usual, in 4-3 loss to Indians.

Jim Abbott kept his composure Sunday while those around him fumbled and stumbled and threw away every chance to win, and for that show of grace, Abbott earned congratulations from interim Manager John Wathan.

Abbott would have preferred congratulations on a victory, but two unearned runs and a series of baserunning and defensive blunders denied him that and set up the Angels’ 4-3 loss to the Indians before a season-high 40,167 at Anaheim Stadium.

“I don’t know what point I’ve reached,” Abbott said after losing for the seventh time in nine decisions but reducing his earned-run average to 2.75. “I really had a lot of hopes and expectations for this season to do well, and it’s tough to see those things go by the wayside. . . .

“You just have to work hard every day and be prepared on the day you’re up. I know it sounds like a cliche, but the way things are going, those are the things I have to get the reward from.”

Abbott, who had an 18-11 record last season, hasn’t won since May 9 and has won only once in his last nine starts.

“We’ve got to keep all the guns and sharp knives away from Abbie right now,” Wathan said after the Angels’ sixth loss in their last seven games, 10th in 12 and 14th in 18. “Abbie pitched a good ballgame again, and he deserves to have fared better. He did an outstanding job of keeping his cool.”

His teammates did a lamentable job behind him. Their mistakes began with Luis Polonia’s misguided attempt to steal third base in the first inning with a runner on first and a 3-and-0 count to Von Hayes. They continued when Gary DiSarcina misplayed a grounder in the second that allowed Cleveland to tie the score. In the fifth, Lee Stevens dropped a pickoff throw that helped Kenny Lofton score the go-ahead run, and in the sixth, Hayes missed a hit-and-run sign that would have avoided a double play, the first of four pulled off by Cleveland in the last four innings.

“This certainly was not a pretty game. It was ugly, and it was by far the worst of the year,” Wathan said. “We gave them three runs off the bat. . . .

“It was a bad, bad game for us and very discouraging after what happened last night,” he added, referring to Bert Blyleven’s emotional 3-1 victory. “Physical mistakes you don’t mind so much, because those are going to happen. The mental mistakes are the ones that drag you down. There shouldn’t be any excuse for mental mistakes at this level.”

After averaging a run a game for Abbott in his previous five starts, the Angels staked him to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Charles Nagy (6-3). They might have scored more if Polonia hadn’t decided to dash for third, but two runs seemed like 20 to Abbott.

The lead evaporated more quickly than it was built. With Albert Belle on first base after a walk, DiSarcina fell while trying to backhand Carlos Martinez’s grounder and then threw the ball past second base and into right field. Belle scored from first and Martinez ended up on second.

He didn’t stay there long, moving to third on a groundout and scoring on a hard grounder to short that DiSarcina simply couldn’t handle.

“It was an error, a basic error,” DiSarcina said of his ninth of the season. “You can make whatever you want out of it.”

The Indians made it 3-2 in the fifth inning, abetted by Stevens’ inability to hold a pickoff throw after Abbott trapped Lofton in a rundown. Given a reprieve, Lofton stole second and scored on Carlos Baerga’s ground single to right.

Cleveland added a run in the seventh on Baerga’s fielder’s choice grounder.

Chad Curtis homered to left field in the eighth inning for the Angels.

“I think we’ve all run out of things to say,” catcher Lance Parrish said of Abbott. “For some bizarre reason, all the goofy things that happen seem to happen when he’s pitching.”

After his previous start, a 4-1 loss to Boston and Roger Clemens last Tuesday, Abbott vented his frustration by smashing his fist into the punching bag that hangs in the runway between the Angels’ dugout and clubhouse.

After his loss Sunday, he simply shrugged. “We’ve played a couple of games on this home stand we could have won if we executed better, and those are the ones you think about into the night,” he said. “We’ve got to tighten up if we’re going to compete in this division.”

Angel Attendance Sunday: 40,167 1991 (22 dates): 607,990 1992 (22 dates): 600,670 Decrease: 7,320 Average: 27,303