Narron Wins It for Angels : His 3-Run Homer Beats Red Sox, 5-4, Before 62,951 Fans

Operating behind Bob Boone, the Angels’ regular catcher, Jerry Narron’s starting chances--his moments in the spotlight--are infrequent. Narron recognizes his assignment and accepts it.

A former part-time player with the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners who is now cast in a similar role with the Angels, the 29-year-old Narron has learned to temper the great expectations of his earlier years.

Thursday night, for example, Narron got a pitch he definitely didn’t expect, but one for which he was hungering.

A fastball: filet mignon for a fastball hitter.

Much to the apparent chagrin of Boston Manager John McNamara, right-hander Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd threw it in the seventh inning of a game the Red Sox led, 4-2.

The appreciative Narron responded with a three-run homer that extended his string of clutch hits and lifted the Angels to a 5-4 victory before 62,951 fans at Anaheim Stadium, the major leagues’ largest crowd of the season.

Narron’s homer set the tone for the postgame fireworks, which provided an appropriate accompaniment to a closed-door meeting McNamara was conducting with Boyd and catcher Rich Gedman.

The normally passive McNamara hurled a T-shirt into a corner of his office when the meeting ended and said of the pitch to Narron: “There was a mix-up in signs between the pitcher and catcher.

“You’ll have to excuse me tonight, but I really don’t care to discuss the bleeping pitch.

“He got a fastball and he hit it, that’s all.”

The Angels turned it into their third straight win and maintained a three-game lead over Oakland in the American League West.

Donnie Moore got the final two outs for his 16th save, equaling his 1984 total with Atlanta. Rookie Pat Clements, shaking off the two key hits he had yielded to George Brett in Kansas City on the recent trip, retired eight in a row during a one-hit stint of 2 innings that ultimately brought him his fifth win without defeat.

The Red Sox have lost 12 of their last 16 games after winning 17 of 19. Urbano Lugo held them scoreless for five innings before Mike Easler hit a three-run homer to cap a four-run sixth, wiping out a 2-0 Angel lead.

Boyd, whose 9-6 record and 3.03 earned-run average included a 6-1 four-hit victory over the Angels in Boston May 8, was working on a three-hitter when Bobby Grich and Doug DeCinces singled consecutively with one out in the seventh.

McNamara went to the mound. Boyd said later that it was to steady him, calm him down.

The admission by McNamara that there had been a mix-up seemed to imply that his visit was also designed to make sure Boyd and Gedman didn’t give Narron a fastball in the strike zone.

Narron had popped up and grounded out in his two previous at-bats, each starting with a change-up followed by a fastball. He again took a first-pitch change-up from Boyd in the seventh, then hammered a fastball on a low line into the field-level seats near the corner of the Angel bullpen in right field.

Said Boyd: “I had got him out with fastballs before. I was going with the odds. If I had to do it over again, I might throw him an off-speed pitch, but give Narron credit. He had an unorthodox swing but got around on it. He kind of tomahawked it.”

Said Narron: “I knew it had a chance to go out, but I didn’t know if it would stay high enough. I really didn’t think he’d throw a fastball in that situation. When Mac went out, I thought for sure he’d throw me an off-speed pitch, though as a fastball hitter I can’t look for breaking balls. Does Mac know me? I hope he does. He was here all last year.”

Narron has appeared in 40 of 77 games. He now has 5 homers, which are responsible for 10 of his 12 RBIs.

He delivered a grand-slam homer to cap a six-run ninth-inning rally that defeated Toronto, 9-6, on May 15. He delivered a pinch double that led to a tying run in the ninth inning of a 4-3 10-inning win over Minnesota on April 11.

“I guess you can say I’ve been in the right place at the right time,” Narron said. “I’m just trying to contribute when I get the chance. It’s not easy when you don’t play a lot. It seems like it takes a month to do something sometimes.

“It also takes 25 guys to win, and that’s the way we’ve been doing it.”

Before hitting their singles that preceded the Narron homer, Grich had singled and DeCinces had doubled, scoring Grich, in the fifth. Grich, regaining his April form with a six-game hitting streak, also sacrificed after a Brian Downing single in the second. Downing eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Easler’s ninth homer erased the early lead and led to Clements’ arrival with two outs and a runner on in the sixth. Clements retired eight in a row before Glenn Hoffman singled with one out in the ninth.

McNamara and counterpart Gene Mauch played a chess game at this point, with Moore eventually striking out pinch-hitter Rick Miller for the second out of the ninth. Marty Barrett followed with a single, but Moore, who had retired four in a row to preserve Wednesday night’s win in Texas, ended this one by getting Dwight Evans on a fly to left.

Hoping to beat the large crowd, Mauch was dressed and almost ready to leave his clubhouse office by the time the media arrived after the game. “I quit watching fireworks in 1938,” he said.

He appreciated Narron’s, however.

Angel Notes Dr. Norman Zemel of Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital examined Gary Pettis’ sprained wrist and confirmed that there was no break or chipping. Pettis was advised to wear his splint for another week and was told he would miss at least two weeks, a club spokesman said. Manager Gene Mauch said it is likely that Pettis will be placed on the disabled list today, and the probable replacement will be Darrell Miller, who has been on the disabled list with a knee impingement and cartilage damage in his left knee. . . . Carl Lewis, the four-time Olympic gold medalist, got a warm reception for his pregame rendition of the national anthem, lip-synched to a tape recording. . . . Ron Romanick (8-4) will pitch for the Angels against Boston’s Bobby Ojeda (4-3) tonight.