Chris Carlson, Associated Press photos The Pirates' Jason Bay, right, celebrates his his two-run homer with Rajai Davis as Los Angeles Angels catcher Mike Napoli stands near them during the third inning of the baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., last night.

By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- No, it was not the Rally Monkey.

	Los Angeles Angels' Orlando Cabrera hits a solo homer against the Pirates during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., last night. His 11th inning single forced in the winning run. Click photo for larger image. TODAY: Game: Pirates (RHP Ian Snell 6-4, 2.63) vs. Los Angeles Angels (RHP Kelvim Escobar 8-3, 2.97), 9:05 p.m., Angel Stadium of Anaheim. TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7). Key matchup: Escobar vs. the Cy Young pack. In his most recent two full seasons, he went 11-12 and 11-14, but his numbers this year are among the finest in the American League. Of note: Snell, back on the mound after missing a turn to a cooking accident, has the sixth-lowest ERA in Major League Baseball. More Coverage: Pirates Notebook: Phelps added to bolster sagging bench

Rather, it was a series of mistakes, missteps and missed assignments that caused the Pirates to squander a four-run lead to the Los Angeles Angels and lose, 5-4, on Orlando Cabrera's 11th-inning single off Jonah Bayliss.

"We played a very creditable game against what, in my opinion, is the best team in baseball," manager Jim Tracy said. "But there were a couple of things where we allowed the door to open just far enough. And a team like that is going to make you pay for that."

"I'm sure everybody would agree with me this is a game we should have won," third baseman Jose Bautista said. "Everybody could have done something, made some kind of play to prevent this. Myself included."

Where to start?

Here was the good ...

Rajai Davis manufactured a run in the openin inning by plopping a single into right, stealing two bases and trotting home on Freddy Sanchez's ground-rule double.

The Pirates tagged Los Angeles' Joe Saunders, an emergency recall from the minors, for three more in the third.

Jack Wilson singled and would take third after two wild pitches. Davis' infield single brought him home and, two outs later, Jason Bay uppercutted Saunders' 2-0 changeup into the bullpens beyond left field for his 12th home run and a 4-0 lead.

Looked promising.

Zach Duke allowed eight baserunners through five innings, including four who reached third base. But he stranded or erased all of them, largely through three double plays.

He gave up a Cabrera home run to open the sixth and two more baserunners, but Masumi Kuwata cleaned up the mess to keep the score at 4-1.

Next came the bad ...

Mike Napoli started the seventh off Damaso Marte with a smash to third that Bautista could not handle. It was scored a single.

Reggie Willits followed with a double down the left-field line, and Napoli -- a catcher -- scored all the way from first. Bay fumbled the ball a bit before throwing to Sanchez as the cutoff man, and the low relay home slipped under the glove of catcher Ronny Paulino, who has had trouble all year in such situations.

It would have been a close play, but it was no play.

Shawn Chacon relieved and promptly gave up Cabrera's single that cut the Pirates' lead to 4-3.

The next inning was strikingly similar, with Chacon still pitching.

Again, Los Angeles opened by hitting a smash that Bautista could not handle, this a single by Howie Kendrick.

Shea Hillenbrand bounced into what should have been a 3-6-1 double play, Wilson's relay to Chacon in plenty of time, but Chacon neglected to step on the bag.

"You'd like to have that out," Tracy said.

Chacon retired the next batter -- should have been the third out -- but Willits again doubled, this time a soft liner to medium-depth left-center.

And again, remarkably, a runner came all the way around from first, this being pinch-runner Nathan Haynes, to deliver the tying run.

How did that one happen?

It started with Bay, apparently, reacting as if Haynes was going to settle for third base on the play and making a less-than-full-throttle throw toward second. At the same time, Wilson, in what seemed to be the most egregious lapse on the sequence, was positioned behind second base for the cutoff, also reacting as if Haynes would settle for third.

But these are the Angels, who have an all-out reputation on the basepaths, something the Pirates had discussed before the game.

"Very aggressive," Tracy called them.

Haynes turned the corner at full speed, and Wilson's relay home, thrown from a greater distance than necessary, made it to Paulino ... who allowed it to get past him again.

"I thought we had a shot to get the guy at home plate," Tracy said. "It didn't work out."

Tracy declined to single out anyone involved in the play, including Wilson.

"He took the throw from Bay, and he made as good a throw as he possibly could have to the plate," Tracy said. "I'm just saying we had a shot. We had a shot at Haynes. It didn't work out. There were other little things involved, too."

Wilson left the clubhouse before reporters were permitted inside.

Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia offered this assessment of his team getting two runs by having a man score from first on a hit to left, saying of the Pirates: "Those guys were playing softly for those doubles."

It did not help the Pirates, of course, that their offense was reduced to one hit in the final seven innings. They had 19 in a row retired from the fourth through the 10th.

Or, as Tracy put it, "We pretty much disappeared."

That made the ending seem academic.

With one out in the Los Angeles 11th, Chone Figgins laced Bayliss' 2-1 fastball into the right-field corner and raced around the bases for a triple. Cabrera took a ball, then routinely lofted a fly ball that landed in the left-field corner, easily beyond the drawn-in outfield.

Atop the list of bright spots was Duke, who showed continuing stability as he finished with a line of one run, nine hits and 12 groundouts in his 5¹/₃ innings.

"I think I'm getting closer to where I want to be," Duke said.

There also was a spectacular catch on a Vladimir Guerrero drive in the seventh by center fielder Nate McLouth that briefly preserved the Pirates' 4-3 lead. McLouth's face and glove struck the fence with great force, but he held on.

He later left the game because of a headache and dizziness but is not expected to miss action.

The Pirates are 1-3 on this 6,387-mile road trip.