The Ruppert, Reggie and Ron Show Is a Hit in Anaheim as Angels Win

A banner hanging above the Angel bullpen in Anaheim Stadium Wednesday night read: “Welcome to the Ruppert and Reggie Show.”

A 2-1 victory over Milwaukee was just that again, though neither the alliterations nor the win started and stopped with Ruppert Jones and Reggie Jackson.

Ron Romanick contributed alphabetically and artistically, pitching a five-hitter to improve his All-Star-worthy record to 10-4.

An eighth-inning homer by Paul Householder represented the only Milwaukee run as Romanick delivered his fifth complete game and improved his earned-run average to 3.06.

A crowd of 28,197 saw Jones extend his hitting streak to 12 games with a double and a bunt single, while Jackson snapped a scoreless tie in the sixth when he belted the 518th homer of his career. It was his 15th of the season and fourth in the last five games.

The Angels’ fourth straight victory and eighth in the last nine games preserved a six-game lead in the American League West. But it wasn’t all Reggie, Ruppert and Ron.

Rod Carew had three hits and is just 19 shy of 3,000.

And Dick Schofield, whose .188 average in the wake of his .192 of last season prompted Manager Gene Mauch to start Craig Gerber at shortstop in 10 of the last 17 games, hammered a seventh-inning homer that proved to be decisive.

Schofield’s two-out blast represented his sixth homer of the year and first since May 21.

It helped make a loser of Ray Burris (4-7), who did an effective job scattering eight hits but failed to keep two of them within the playing field.

Schofield homered into the bleacher seats in left. Jackson’s towering homer was hit deep into the bullpen in right, under the homemade banner. Jackson is now batting .326 over his last 26 games, a span in which he has 8 homers and 23 RBIs. He has 22 RBIs in the last 22 games, and of his last 23 hits, 15 have been for extra bases.

Said Mauch: “Reggie has had a plan for July, but he’ll have to tell you about it. I’m not going to squeal on him.”

Jackson said it is not time yet to divulge the plan. He expressed pride in his season but said it is still early. He said the Angels have received pitching even more impressive than his hitting.

“Our pitching has been so good,” Jackson said, “that it makes a home run in the sixth inning big.

“We don’t lose games anymore. You have to beat us.”

The homer that helped beat the Brewers was a little bigger than most, Jackson said, because his mother was in the crowd.

It’s not certain whether she had previously cast an All-Star vote for her son, but Jackson is thought to have received enough votes to win a starting berth in the American League’s All-Star outfield for the Tuesday night game at Minneapolis.

Carew is expected to be the starter at first base, and it’s anticipated that Sparky Anderson will select Donnie Moore as one of his eight pitchers.

Romanick?

“He definitely merits consideration,” Mauch said, “but picking that team is a thankless, thankless job.”

Said Romanick: “I think I have the stats for it. Whether I have a chance for it? No.

“Everyone would like to play in it, but we’ll have three guys going, anyway.

“I mean, if it happens, it happens, but it’s an individual thing that I can’t worry about. It’s secondary to what I’m trying to accomplish.

“I think I have the respect of my teammates, and that’s more important.”

Romanick struck out three, walked three and watched Doug DeCinces continue to turn third base into a ballet stage.

The three-game sweep by the Angels was their first over the Brewers in Anaheim since 1979. It gave them a 20-7 record in games decided by one run and a 7-2 season’s edge over Milwaukee.

They are now 24-9 against the five teams at the bottom of the two divisions: Milwaukee and Cleveland in the East, and Seattle, Minnesota and Texas in the West.

It gets a little tougher tonight, when Eastern-leading Toronto arrives for a four-game series, the last before the All-Star break. The Angels are 2-2 against Toronto.

“They’re obviously better than they have ever been,” Mauch said of the Blue Jays, “but we play everyone well. I’m not apprehensive about it.”

Said Jackson: “It’s not do-or-die for either team, but it is important for both teams. We want to take this momentum into the All-Star break. We want to get a couple of blows in. We want to show ‘em we’re on the block, too.”

Angel Notes

After employing 78 batting orders in the first 80 games, Angel Manager Gene Mauch has now used the same batting order in three straight games, a 1985 record. . . . Geoff Zahn, coming back from tendinitis that put him on the disabled list April 30, said he felt no stiffness or soreness after making 50 pitches in a simulated game Tuesday. Zahn will pitch another one Saturday and hopes to rejoin the rotation after the All-Star game. . . . Angel center fielder Gary Pettis has been fitted with a hard cast to protect his sprained left wrist from reinjury. Pettis will be eligible to leave the disabled list July 20. . . . Reggie Jackson’s home run gave him a career total of 59 against Milwaukee, more than he has hit against any other team.