Angels Rally for 10-4 Win Over Orioles

Only three hitters had made their way to home plate Sunday afternoon before Gene Mauch managed to get himself thrown out of the game.

One could have surmised that the Angels’ manager had seen enough.

Kirk McCaskill, the Angels’ hockey-player-turned-pitcher, was getting checked hard again. Eddie Murray, the Baltimore Orioles’ clean-up hitter, had tagged McCaskill with a three-run home run. Two batters after Mauch’s ejection, Larry Sheets sent another pitch over the outfield fence.

That gave Oriole starter Mike Boddicker a four-run lead to play around with, which is kind of like giving Carl Lewis a head start in the 100 meters. Boddicker has a history of grinding up Angel bats, shutting them out twice last year.

For the Angels, it looked like a great day for a rain-out.

But third-base coach Moose Stubing, to whom Mauch had turned over the managerial duties, then turned all matters over to the Angels’ B team.

And by the time Pat Clements, Jack Howell, Ruppert Jones and Juan Beniquez had finished checking in, the Angels had turned themselves completely around, powering their way to a 10-4 victory before a crowd of 36,615 at Anaheim Stadium.

Clements, called on to spell McCaskill with one out in the third inning, retired the first nine batters he faced, held Murray, Cal Ripken and Fred Lynn hitless through 6 innings of relief and left the mound after the final out as a rookie with a 3-0 record.

Howell, the Angels’ replacement at third for the injured Doug DeCinces, forgot long enough about his .071 average to deliver his first major-league RBI in the third inning, a game-winner at that.

Howell’s run-scoring single had come after Beniquez and Jones had helped drag the Angels back to a 4-4 tie, with only a minimum of outside help.

Run No. 1: Beniquez beats out an infield single in the first inning, advances to second on a ground out and scores on Jones’ single to right field.

Runs No. 2 and 3: Bob Boone and Dick Schofield hit a couple of choppers for base hits and Beniquez drives them both in with a single to right.

Run No. 4: Jones opens the third with a home run--his sixth of the season, third of the week and second in as many games.

Bobby Grich then walks and Boddicker, 6-3 for this season and an Angel nemesis for the past three, is called down for the count. Baltimore Manager Joe Altobelli brings on reliever Sammy Stewart, who yields a sacrifice bunt to Mike Brown and the historic single to Howell.

Later, the Angels add three runs on Brian Downing’s fourth homer of the season and another on a single by Boone, his third of the afternoon, to complete a comeback that kept their American League West lead over Kansas City at 1 1/2 games.

Mauch called it “one of the best games I never saw.” He missed it, except for occasional glimpses from the runway leading to the Angels’ dugout, after critiquing the manner in which home plate umpire Tim Welke was calling balls and strikes.

After Jim Dwyer hit a one-out single in the first, McCaskill had jumped ahead of Ripken with an 0-2 count, only to eventually fall behind and walk him.

That put another runner on the bases for Murray, who connected on a 1-2 pitch for his seventh home run of the year and a quick 3-0 Baltimore lead.

Still unconvinced that McCaskill had actually thrown four balls to Ripken--and particularly miffed about Welke’s call on McCaskill’s 2-2 pitch--Mauch walked out of the dugout to confront Welke . . . and wound up getting tossed out of the game.

“That 2-2 pitch to Ripken, we wanted badly,” Mauch said. “That was the first time I’d seen McCaskill zero in on him. We thought it was a strike.”

Welke didn’t and when Mauch protested about it, Welke warned the manager not to leave the bench. But after Murray’s home run, Mauch did leave the bench, which earned him his second ejection of the season.

“I got it just by leaving the bench,” Mauch said. “But I had to talk to him (Welke). He had never seen McCaskill before and we were facing Boddicker, whose history shows that we don’t exactly score runs against.

“I told him (Welke), ‘This day is gonna be tough enough on us.’ ”

Or, so it seemed. But Boddicker, who took a 4-2 career record against the Angels into Sunday’s game, couldn’t make it out of the third inning.

And on came Clements, to do to the Orioles what Boddicker normally does to the Angels. Clements retired nine Baltimore batters in succession, surrendered two singles to Fritz Connally and Rick Dempsey in the sixth, and then shut down the Orioles the rest of the way.

In 6 innings, Clements allowed two hits, four baserunners (including a walk and an error) and only one Oriole to advance as far as second base.

“He pitched his heart out,” Grich said.

“You have no right to expect him to shut out those hitters for that long,” Mauch said. “Clements was superb. And that’s the second time he’s done that.”

The first was a six-inning stint against the Boston Red Sox on April 29. Clements won that one, 7-6.

Suffice to say, the Angels score runs when Clements is on the mound. And today, they take on a greater challenge: Scoring runs for Mike Witt.

Witt, a luckless 2-5 despite a 3.31 ERA, can only hope on Memorial Day that his teammates remember how they did it to the Baltimore Orioles Sunday.

Angel Notes The Angels, active for the last week exchanging offers with Cleveland regarding the possibility of a trade for Bert Blyleven, have apparently not given up on the thought of also acquiring pitcher Steve Rogers, released recently by Montreal. The Angels have informed Rogers’ attorney, Dick Moss, of their interest, according to a source who requested anonymity, and will make an official offer when waivers on Rogers expire Tuesday. . . . Gene Autry placed a postgame congratulatory call to Gene Mauch, who told the Angel owner: “Moose (Stubing) can manage like hell, can’t he?” Mauch spent less than half an inning in the Angel dugout, passing the time following his ejection by pacing the runway leading between the team’s dugout and clubhouse. “I kept going up and down the ramp,” Mauch said. “I’ve got more charley horses than Reggie.” . . . Kirk McCaskill, still winless at 0-3, had another rough outing: six hits and four earned runs in 2 innings. But Mauch said the rookie’s performance is no reason for concern. “(Eddie) Murray is gonna hit home runs off anybody,” Mauch said. “Giving up one to him is a little different than one to Tony Fernandez. It’s nothing to get too torn up about.”. . . The Angels held a team meeting after batting practice, but no strike vote was taken. “We’re waiting for more information from (Players Assn. representatives Mark) Belanger and (Donald) Fehr,” Bobby Grich said. “Right now, it’s premature to have a strike vote. But we will, in the near future.” . . . The Angels close the homestand today, with Mike Witt (2-5) opposing Scott McGregor (1-4) at 1:05 p.m.