Angels Top Dodgers as Both Teams Hit It Off Quite Well, 6-5

The Dodgers and the Angels opened the 18th Freeway Series Friday night amid spills, thrills and baseballs sent bouncing all over Dodger Stadium.

And after more than three hours of That’s Entertainment-style baseball, the Angels had followed the bouncing ball to a 6-5 victory before a crowd of 44,490.

The Angels produced 16 hits, with Brian Downing collecting three and Gary Pettis, Rod Carew, Bobby Grich, Bob Boone and rookie Wally Joyner each getting two.

The Dodgers had 10 hits, including two doubles by Mike Marshall and two singles by Pedro Guerrero that helped account for three runs.

There were also tons of fun provided by the fielders. Dodger left fielder Al Oliver did a fourth-inning slip-and-slide, producing one error, two Angel runs and one grass stain on the seat of his pants.

Pettis also took a few tumbles in center field for the Angels, diving twice in vain attempts to flag down Dodger hits and catapulting one relay home to the backstop, bringing in one Dodger run.

And then, at the very end, the Angels had to stave off a Dodger threat, pinch-runner Hector Rincones representing the tying run at second and Terry Whitfield batting with two out in the ninth.

Finally, Angel reliever Donnie Moore brought an end to things by inducing Whitfield to pop out to first base.

Moore got the save, Angel starter Mike Witt got the win and the 1985 Freeway Series got off to an interesting, if rather sloppy, beginning.

The managers, at least, enjoyed it.

“I get a kick out of watching our guys hit,” Angel manager Gene Mauch said.

“I liked the way our club battled back,” the Dodgers’ Tommy Lasorda said. “We made a game of it.”

Considering how the prospects appeared after the top of the fourth inning, that was an accomplishment for the Dodgers. The Angels sent 10 hitters to the plate and came away with a 5-0 lead.

The Angels spent the fourth inning rapping Bob Welch’s deliveries into left field, which proved to be the proper strategy. Hit enough balls in Oliver’s direction, and something interesting is usually bound to happen.

Oliver misplayed one ball into an Angel run and slipped while trying to field a hit by Pettis, resulting in another Angel run.

With one out in the fourth, Carew at second and Reggie Jackson at first, Brian Downing drove the ball just inside the left-field line for a single. Carew scored easily, but when an onrushing Oliver bobbled the ball in foul territory, Jackson was also able to come home.

Grich and Boone also singled in runs before Joyner, pinch-hitting for Witt, bounced an infield single off the glove of Dodger first baseman Greg Brock.

That brought up Pettis, who looped the ball into left field. While trying to glove the ball, Oliver slipped and fell, enabling Boone to score, Joyner to take third and Pettis to reach second.

Welch got Carew, the 10th batter of the inning, to ground to second for the third out. In between at-bats by Carew, the Angels had scored five runs.

Luis Sanchez replaced Witt, who had allowed just one single and one walk in three innings, and immediately found himself in trouble. He gave up one run when Marshall doubled home Guerrero, who had singled. And the Dodgers cut the deficit to 5-2 when Brock singled to center and Pettis sent his relay home to the backstop, enabling Marshall to score.

Another double by Marshall led to two Dodger runs in the sixth inning.

After the Angels had taken a 6-2 lead on a fifth-inning RBI single by Dick Schofield, Marshall opened the bottom of the sixth with a double to right-center, followed by a walk to Brock.

Sid Bream, voted the outstanding Dodger rookie of the spring, then batted for pitcher Larry White. Bream hit a dunker to left-center that eluded a diving Pettis and drove in Reynolds.

Bill Russell followed with a run-scoring sacrifice fly to center, and the Dodgers had pulled within 6-4.

The Dodgers scored their final run in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Steve Sax. Sax then stole second to move into scoring position with one out, but Moore left him stranded there, striking out Jay Johnstone and getting Oliver to fly to left.

The Dodgers put together one last threat in the bottom of the ninth when Mike Scioscia forced R.J. Reynolds at second and advanced to second on a throwing error by Angel shortstop Craig Gerber.

Rincones then ran for Scioscia but failed to advance when Moore got the pinch-hitting Whitfield for the final out.

Freeway Series Notes The series moves tonight to Anaheim Stadium, where the Dodgers’ Orel Hershiser will start against either Geoff Zahn or Tommy John in a 7 p.m. game. Zahn, one of only three pitchers assured of a spot in the Angels’ starting rotation, has complained of a sore left shoulder and may give way to John, who’s still competing for a place on the team’s final roster. “We won’t know until 5 o’clock tomorrow,” Manager Gene Mauch said, “and even then, I couldn’t care less. Zahn would pitch just two innings, and two innings isn’t going to make any difference. He pitched two innings all last spring and then started off 6-1.” . . . Mauch said John would pitch several innings tonight--whether as a starter or not--as the Angels take a final look before making a decision on the 41-year-old left-hander. Mauch: “I came to spring training wanting to find something better than the Tommy John of 1983 and ’84. If it turns out that Tommy John is that guy, then it’s fine with me.” . . . Dodger starting pitcher Alejandro Pena, recovering from February shoulder surgery, was officially placed on the 60-day disabled list, effective April 8.