Blue Jays Beat Angels as They Get a Key Win From Left-Hander, 6-3

Kirk McCaskill, recalled from Edmonton Tuesday to replace the injured Geoff Zahn, allowed only two hits and an unearned run through the first six innings of his major league debut Wednesday night.

His next one-third of an inning wasn’t quite that auspicious.

McCaskill yielded five of Toronto’s six hits in the seventh inning and was charged with the five runs that propelled the Blue Jays to a 6-3 victory before an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 24,112.

Something had to give in this confrontation of American League division leaders--and it was the Angels’ six-game win streak. Toronto had also won six in a row, but No. 7 was significant for a more remarkable reason.

Though blessed with outstanding pitching in recent years, the Blue Jays had not received a win by a left-handed starter since Paul Mirabella beat Boston on Oct. 4, 1980.

The drought ended in this game as Jimmy Key, a 24-year-old left-hander who was 4-5 in 63 relief assignments as a rookie last season, allowed only two hits before leaving with two outs and a runner on in the eighth.

Ron Musselman and Bill Caudill then preserved Key’s first win in three decisions as Toronto’s rotation replacement for Jim Gott, who was traded to San Francisco during the winter.

This was the 615th game and 1,671st day since that last win by a left-hander, a span in which the basic Toronto rotation had included only right-handers, but Key’s effort seemed to indicate the likelihood of more.

Alluding to the fact that left-handers had started only 18 games since Mirabella’s win, Key said: “It wasn’t that big a streak when you think about how few left-handers have started games, but it will be a relief to get the guys off my back.

“Ever since I made the team in spring training as a starter, I heard about the streak. Every time I didn’t win I heard about it again. It really didn’t bother me. It was just something the guys kidded me about. I’m only trying to establish myself as a starter, but maybe now I can win 614 in a row.”

Said Angel Manager Gene Mauch: “I thought we’d adjust to Key a little better than we did. I wouldn’t say he’s another Geoff Zahn, but he took a page out of Zahn’s book the way he changed speeds.

“If he can continue doing that and stay in the low part of the strike zone, they won’t go another 600 or so games (without a win by a left-handed starter).”

Key went four innings without giving up a hit, until Reggie Jackson opened the fifth with his fourth home run--and possibly, his longest at the Big A since joining the Angels in 1982. The towering drive landed in the empty right-field bleachers, about six rows from the second deck, which has yet to be reached.

Key retired the next eight batters, however, and ultimately departed after having allowed only one other hit, Brian Downing’s single in the seventh.

Musselman got the final out of the eighth but couldn’t get the first out in the ninth. Doug DeCinces singled, Bobby Grich walked and Jackson singled to drive in DeCinces. Now came relief ace Caudill, his 11th appearance in 21 games. A Downing fly scored Grich, making it 6-3. A two-out walk to Ruppert Jones kept the Angels alive and brought up pinch-hitter Jerry Narron, representing the tying run. Narron hit a whistling drive into the right-field corner, foul by inches. He was then caught looking at a slow-curve third strike.

McCaskill emerged a loser, but he had won an opportunity to start for Zahn again.

“I have no negative thoughts about the way the boy pitched,” Mauch said. “The first six innings looked like a walk in the park.”

McCaskill’s own error following an error by Dick Schofield led to an unearned run in the second. He had walked just one, struck out four and was tied, 1-1, entering the seventh.

Then George Bell doubled, Len Matuszek singled, and right fielder Lou Thornton collected his first hit, an RBI single for a 2-1 lead. Shortstop Tony Fernandez jumped on a high slider and hit his first home run, making it 5-1. A Damaso Garcia single brought on Rafael Lugo, who ultimately gave up an RBI single to Rance Mulliniks, wrapping up the five-run inning.

McCaskill, who had been 1-1 at Edmonton, reflected on the sudden turnaround in the seventh and said: “I think my emotions caught up to me. I got tired and made bad pitches. It’s all part of the learning process. I have to learn to make good pitches when I’m tired. I pitched six solid innings and one that was not so solid.”

The ratio seemed to convince the former pro hockey player that he should be here to stay.

“It’s the same game they play at Double-A and Triple-A,” he said. “I thought I could pitch here before, and I proved it tonight. It was only six innings, but I think I can do it every time. You have to be confident or you’re beaten before you start.”

Angel Notes Was Kirk McCaskill fazed by pitching against the touted Blue Jays? “I tried to keep it in perspective and treat it as another game,” he said. “I hadn’t heard of half those guys, and so it was to my advantage not to be intimidated.” . . . Daryl Sconiers, who has been working out at Anaheim Stadium following his treatment for chemical abuse, will begin his competitive comeback tonight. He was assigned to Midland of the Double-A Texas League on rehabilitation assignment, spanning a maximum 20 days. Angel General Manager Mike Port said he is yet to determine the club’s options at the end of 20 days because the chemical involvement puts Sconiers in a category different from other players on rehabilitation assignment . . . The Tuesday night game between the Angels and Red Sox ended at 12:33 Wednesday morning with the Angels winning, 3-2, in 15 innings. It spanned 4 hours 46 minutes and ultimately turned on the relief pitching of Donnie Moore and Stewart Cliburn, who combined to retire 15 straight Boston batters and allow just two hits in 6 innings . . . Moore, who was working in his third straight game, is now unscored on in his last nine appearances spanning 13 innings . . . Cliburn has a win and a save to show for his first two big league appearances . . . The Angel bullpen emerged from that game having allowed just one run in its last 18 innings and just three in its last 28 . . . Jim Rice, Dwight Evans and Tony Armas, each of whom drove in more than 100 runs last year, were a combined 0 for 19 over the 15 innings . . . The Angels’ Jim Slaton (3-0) will pitch against Toronto’s Dave Stieb (1-2) tonight.