Angels, Red Sox Still Tied, 2-2 After 14 Innings

The Angels were trying to improve on a 13-7 record--one of their best starts in club history--as they battled Boston into extra innings with a 2-2 tie at Anaheim Stadium Tuesday night.

The club’s best performance in the month of April came in 1982 when the Angels went 15-7 en route to a Western Division title.

California lost an excellent opportunity to win with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th when Doug DeCinces struck out and Mike Brown popped up against Red Sox reliever Bob Ojeda.

The Angel relievers had retired 15 straight Red Sox until Dave Stapleton hit an infield single off Stu Cliburn in the top of the 14th inning. But Boston was unable to score and the game stretched into the bottom of the 14th.

The score was 2-2 after the 10th inning, the Angels losing a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth on four Boston hits off Doug Corbett and Donnie Moore. The latter ultimately preserved the tie by getting Dwight Evans to ground into a double play with the bases loaded and one out.

Mike Witt, who had seen the Angels score only eight runs in his four previous starts, pitched the first seven innings, allowing only three hits and walking seven.

His one-run performance was matched through seven innings by Boston southpaw Bruce Hurst, who was replaced by Bob Stanley in the eighth when the Angels took a brief lead of 2-1.

The Red Sox came back to tie in the ninth on a double by Bill Buckner and pinch-hit singles by Rick Miller and Steve Lyons, the latter collecting his first big league hit.

The McCaskill recall stemmed from the loss of Zahn because of recurring tendinitis in his left shoulder and the inability of Ken Forsch to leave the disabled list because of his inflamed right elbow.

Forsch and Zahn had arthrograms Tuesday that showed no long-range problems. Manager Gene Mauch said Forsch is expected to need another eight to 10 days, while Zahn, whose DL assignment was made retroactive to his Friday night start in Seattle, will be eligible to return May 12.

McCaskill, a 24-year-old right-hander who gave up a promising hockey career to return to baseball in the spring of 1984, was 1-1 with a 2.04 ERA at Edmonton, having pitched seven shutout innings in his last start.

With Zahn, Forsch and Luis Sanchez on the DL and Bob Kipper having recently been optioned out, the Angels, who used to deal in tired and suspect arms, have already made three recalls, lowering the average age of their pitching staff to 25.2 from 31.5 at this time last year.

McCaskill will join former Edmonton teammates Rafael Lugo, 22, and Stewart Cliburn, 28, in Anaheim, giving the Angels six farm products on a 10 man staff. The others: Witt, 24, Ron Romanick, 24, and Pat Clements, 23.

“It’s not like we’re shooting in the dark,” Mauch said of the changes. “The kids are quality people and pitchers. They’ve handled themselves nicely. A lot of wonderful things have happened in baseball out of necessity.

“I mean, some people respond very well to opportunity.”

McCaskill, a hockey All-American at Vermont and the son of former pro hockey player Ted McCaskill, has a 23-30 record in three-plus minor league seasons but was considered a spring contender for the Angels’ rotation until hospitalized in Arizona with the flu.

“If McCaskill hadn’t gotten sick,” Mauch said, “it wouldn’t have surprised me a bit if he had opened the season with us.

“There aren’t many who can take a better assortment (of pitches) out there. Whether he has it under control or not we’ll find out tomorrow night.

“We talked to (Edmonton manager) Winston Llenas and he said that if we needed someone to start a game we should take McCaskill. He said he pitched a big league game the last time out.”