Angels Still Get No Relief in Bullpen : Twins Score Five Runs in Last Two Innings for 6-3 Win

An Anaheim Stadium crowd of 23,140 received a painful reminder Wednesday night that the Angels still can’t spell relief. There was a definite absence of quality bullpen pitching--a familiar situation during many of the Angels’ previous 24 years--as the Minnesota Twins rallied for their second straight victory, 6-3.

The Twins first rebounded from a 2-1 deficit by scoring two eighth-inning runs off Donnie Moore, who was betrayed by control and defense in his debut as the Angels’ right-handed stopper. They then scored three runs off Moore, rookie Pat Clements and Doug Corbett in the ninth.

The blow that proved decisive was a three-run double by Gary Gaetti after Corbett had replaced Clements.

The Minnesota rally nullified Reggie Jackson’s two-run, first-inning homer, some fine fielding by third baseman Doug DeCinces and a tenacious starting performance by Geoff Zahn, who allowed eight hits but only one run in 6 innings.

The Angels, limited to four hits in Tuesday night’s opener, got only five in this one.

Mike Smithson, who was 3-0 with a 1.07 ERA against the Angels last year, yielded just three hits in 7 innings, then got bullpen help from rookie left-hander Curt Wardle and veteran Ron Davis.

The latter came on to face the potential tying run in the ninth. He popped up Rob Wilfong and struck out Jerry Narron for his second save, which is as many as he could have at this point.

The Angels failed to generate an anticipated offense last year and have been outhit, 25-9, in the two games of the new season. They have also lost 11 of their last 15 games to Minnesota.

Now, in only 24 hours, Manager Gene Mauch has seen each of his four bullpen stalwarts--Moore, Clements, Corbett and Luis Sanchez--roughed up, but his outlook remains optimistic.

“I was aware of that,” he said, when asked about the four performances, “and I’d prefer it the other way.

“We’ve got a couple days to get it straightened out, and we will. Soon as we do, we’ll win a lot of games.”

Moore, who converted 16 of 19 save opportunities with Atlanta last year, replaced Zahn in the seventh, then yielded RBI singles to Tom Brunansky and Gaetti in the eighth after the Twins loaded the bases on a Mickey Hatcher single, Rod Carew’s failure to field a potential double play grounder hit by Kent Hrbek and a walk to Roy Smalley.

Hatcher’s third hit and second off Moore brought on Clements with one out in the ninth. Hrbek and Smalley walked to load the bases. Now Corbett replaced Clements and yielded the double to Gaetti, who had three hits and four RBIs.

Of Moore, a key to the Angels hopes, Mauch said, “His stuff was good, but he was high.”

Said Moore: “I hadn’t thrown since the first game of the Dodger series and I might have been too strong. Everything was up. I didn’t have great results, but I felt good. I’ll take the same stuff every time.”

Zahn, who had missed his Saturday night start against the Dodgers because of a tired shoulder, was blessed with brilliant fielding support by the acrobatic DeCinces as he rejected a series of threats. The Twins had scored only on catcher Tim Laudner’s fifth-inning homer when Mauch brought on Moore with one out and no one on in the seventh.

“It’s not a move you can second-guess,” Zahn said. “Gene had blamed himself for staying with Mike (Witt) too long last night and was obviously thinking about the fact that I’d thrown more than 100 pitches only once all spring.

“He wasn’t going to give me a chance to get in trouble. I’m not sure I wouldn’t have done the same thing when you’ve got guys in the bullpen that you have to count on coming through if we’re going to win.”

The offense will eventually have to come through, too.

This time, however, Jackson’s 504th career homer, an opposite-field shot into the field-level seats in left, provided the only Angel scoring until the ninth, when a walk and singles by Bobby Grich and Bob Boone brought the Angels within three and Davis to the mound.

Smithson had yielded only two hits between the Jackson homer and his departure in the eighth. Wardle, a Norco High and UC Riverside product who was 6-1 with 16 saves at Orlando last year, made his big league debut by bailing Smithson out of a mild threat in the eighth. He was then bailed out by Davis in the ninth.

Angel Notes

It now seems likely that Ken Forsch will miss at least four starts rather than the anticipated two because of a calcification buildup in the area of his elbow strain. Forsch, on the 15-day disabled list, will throw on the side today but said, “I haven’t thrown in a week. There’s no way I can be ready by the 17th. I’d say that May 1 is a possibility.” . . . Jim Slaton, who was 7-10 last year when he replaced the injured Forsch, makes his first start as his 1985 replacement tonight, facing John Butcher in the series finale . . . The Angels concluded season ticket sales with a total of 17,164, down only 123 from last year . . . The Twins’ Tuesday night win snapped a six-game losing streak that ended the 1984 season.