Angels Beat the Tigers, 2-1, in 11 Innings : Kirk McCaskill Makes a Strong 8-Inning Bid to Stick Around

Kirk McCaskill flirted with the record book Tuesday night, but he settled for continuing appearances in the Angel rotation.

Carrying an 0-3 record, an 8.16 earned-run average and the knowledge that his team has been pursuing a trade for pitching help, the 24-year-old rookie responded to a last chance assignment with a performance that ultimately produced a standing ovation from an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 35,184.

McCaskill turned the world champion Detroit Tigers away without a hit for 6 innings, yielded only one for 8 and ultimately left with two outs in the ninth, having allowed just three hits and one run.

The box score will show that McCaskill did not receive a decision in the Angels’ 2-1, 11-inning win over the Tigers, but he left Manager Gene Mauch with an obvious decision. McCaskill will remain with the Angels and remain in the rotation.

Challenging hitters as he did over the first six innings of his debut against Toronto, the right-hander made only two mistakes while walking two and striking out five.

Kirk Gibson turned the first into his sixth home run, shattering the no-hit bid and a scoreless tie with one out in the seventh.

The second was to be matched against the American League’s most successful pitcher of the last six years.

Jack Morris has 108 wins in that span. He came into this game with a 5-4 record that his manager, Sparky Anderson, said could easily have been 7-1.

Morris showed why as he matched McCaskill’s effectiveness, allowing only a bloop single by Bob Boone in the third and a line single to center by Jack Howell in the seventh--his first major league hit--before Dick Schofield unloaded his fifth home run with one out in the eighth to tie it, 1-1.

McCaskill left in the ninth after singles by Lou Whitaker with one out and Gibson with two outs, the latter following Rob Wilfong’s sliding stop of a potential game winning hit by Alan Trammell. Wilfong turned it into a force play, nullifying the impact of Gibson’s ensuing single.

Donnie Moore then came on to get Lance Parrish to ground into a force play, ending the threat.

The Angels ultimately won it for him in the 11th on a single by Juan Beniquez, a sacrifice by Brian Downing and a double down the right-field line by Ruppert Jones, who left the Tigers as a free agent last winter.

The loser was Willie Hernandez, who had been summoned to pitch the ninth. Hernandez carried a 1.75 ERA, a 2-0 record and nine saves in nine opportunities.

Moore, who also has nine saves, is 3-1 with an ERA of 0.64. He pitched 2 innings in this one and has allowed only one unearned run in the 25 innings of his last 16 appearances.

This was the third straight loss for the Tigers and the third straight win for the Angels, who improved their American League West lead over Minnesota to two games while again operating without four injured regulars--Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Doug DeCinces and Gary Pettis.

The Angels collected only seven hits, but that was three more than allowed by McCaskill and Moore, who received brilliant fielding support from an infield that included one regular--shortstop Schofield--at his normal position.

Howell, up now for 48 hours, was at third, Pine Brother Wilfong at second and the suddenly nomadic Bobby Grich at first.

Each had a significant hand--or glove--in the victory, but the night was McCaskill’s.

So much so that a teen-aged girl came out of the stands at the start of the ninth inning and raced to the mound carrying flowers. McCaskill sent her to the dugout, where Jackson ushered her toward an exit.

“I didn’t need the distraction,” McCaskill said later.

He did earn bouquets, however.

Mauch acknowledged that this was a last chance for McCaskill and applauded the rookie’s ability to shed the tentativeness that characterized his two starts after the Toronto Blue Jays scored five runs in the seventh inning of his debut.

“I think he had the whole situation pretty well analyzed,” Mauch said of McCaskill. “He knew he had to take his best stuff out there and he knew he had to throw it over the plate instead of being tentative. The outcome was not as important to us as his approach.”

Pitching coach Marcel Lachemann had laid the facts out for McCaskill, who said:

“I’m not taking anything for granted. I think I can pitch up here, but this was only one start and I know I’m going to have to pitch others like it to stay.

“I also know that if I hadn’t had this one I wouldn’t have gotten another chance. I wasn’t helping the team. I wouldn’t have deserved another. I was taking it one pitch at a time, gearing 100% toward Boone’s mitt.”

McCaskill credited the fact that he hadn’t pitched in 10 days. He said it gave him time to sit back and watch others work, time to realize he was trying to finesse hitters rather than challenge them.

“I have mixed emotions,” he said of Tuesday’s results. “I’m happy that we won, that’s the bottom line. But on the other hand I thought that I pitched well enough to get the win, and at 0-3 I want a win.”

Now, at least, he knows he’ll get another shot at one.

Angel Notes Filling a roster spot created when Rod Carew and Doug DeCinces were put on the disabled list Monday, the Angels recalled first baseman Daryl Sconiers from his rehabilitation assignment at Midland of the Texas League . . . Sconiers, who reported to spring training 17 days late and then underwent treatment for chemical abuse, had a .224 average in 14 games at Midland, where he had been expected to stay until Saturday . . . In a brief press conference before starting as the designated hitter Tuesday night, Sconiers said he had a positive outlook and felt good physically. “I’m trying to take it a step at a time,” he said. “I’m trying not to rush things.” . . . Of his spring setback, Sconiers said: “Call it a bend in the road. It will always be in the back of my mind, but I’m trying not to dwell on it. There are other things in life, including baseball. I just want to live and make the best of it.” . . . Said Manager Gene Mauch: “I don’t expect Sconiers to be real sharp because he hasn’t had that much time. But he’s always had an amazing relationship with the bat and he might get going quicker than we have a right to expect. We need a left-handed hitter with Reggie down.”

Reggie Jackson said the hamstring pull he suffered Monday night “could have been a lot worse.” He termed it a strain and said he was hopeful of being available for pinch-hitting by Saturday or Sunday . . . On the owners salary cap proposal, Mauch said: “I don’t know a thing about it. If it wasn’t in the box score, I didn’t see it.” . . . The Angels have had six farm prospects make their major league debut this season. They are Jack Howell, Kirk McCaskill, Bob Kipper, Urbano Lugo, Craig Gerber and Pat Clements. A seventh, pitcher Stewart Cliburn, had appeared in only 10 previous major league games . . . Gerber became the latest casualty Tuesday, suffering a split lip on a bad-bounce grounder hit by coach Bobby Knoop during pregame drills . . . Tommy John turns 42 today . . . The Angels’ Mike Witt (2-4) faces the Tigers’ Dan Petry (7-2) in tonight’s series finale.