Linares Helps Romanick Survive Off-Day, 8-4

Ron Romanick had just beaten the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday afternoon, 8-4, for his 12th victory, second only to Ron Guidry’s 13 in the American League.

Romanick reached that position by limiting the Brewers to one earned run in six innings before a County Stadium crowd of 24,380, an outing that dropped his earned-run average to 2.94--sixth-best in the league.

With the victory, Romanick improved his record against East Division clubs to 9-1 and became a winner for the 10th time in his last 12 decisions.

Not a bad day’s work, right?

“I was horsebleep,” Romanick said. “And a bunch of other adjectives you can’t write. I have a halfway decent image and I want to keep it.”

Romanick bit his tongue.

“You ought to talk to someone who did something,” was his suggestion to reporters.

Romanick is no strident perfectionist who accepts only shutouts. But he does appreciate a well-pitched baseball game, and he refused to include Wednesday’s in that category.

“You can call it an off-day,” Romanick said. “I was frustrated. I couldn’t get the ball at the knees. I couldn’t execute my game plan.

“The only thing that saved me is that on most of the balls they hit (hard), we made the plays on. Somebody was on my side today. We scored some runs, and I hung around long enough for a win.”

Romanick’s victory was marked by some rust around the edges. He allowed the first two Brewer batters--Paul Molitor and Robin Yount--to score, although both were unearned because there were errors attached. And he surrendered three singles to Brewer shortstop Ernest Riles, one of which drove in a run in the sixth inning, just before Romanick was given the rest of the day off.

On came Stewart Cliburn for two innings and Donnie Moore for one to finish up, preserving the Angels’ 6 1/2-game lead in the West Division.

Romanick needed a lot of help from an unorthodox lineup concocted especially by Gene Mauch to combat Brewer left-handed starter Ted Higuera. Romanick got the help, too, from:

--Right fielder Mike Brown, who went 3 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs.

--Designated hitter Rufino Linares, who had a three-run homer in the fourth inning, his second home run in two starts with the Angels.

--First baseman Juan Beniquez, who singled in each of his last three at-bats.

--Catcher Bob Boone, who gave the Angels three home runs for the day by clearing the left-field fence as the leadoff hitter in the fifth.

“We got ‘em with the long ball,” Romanick said. “They gave me a big lead and I was able to turn it over to someone else.”

Milwaukee scored twice in the first, with the help of Angel errors. Molitor led off and reached first base when shortstop Dick Schofield’s throw pulled Beniquez off the bag. Yount followed with a double to left and moved to third when Brian Downing let the ball skitter past him to the wall.

The error, coming almost exactly on the second anniversary of Downing’s last defensive faux pas--July 22, 1983--enabled Yount to score on Ben Oglivie’s sacrifice fly.

The Angels overcame the quick deficit with home runs. Brown connected for a solo homer in the second, and Linares, who homered in his debut as an Angel starter last Saturday at Boston, delivered his three-run shot in the fourth.

In five at-bats in less than a week, Linares already has doubled his 1984 home run total with the Atlanta Braves.

Power hitting and Rufino Linares have never been partners in any game of word association. In 2 1/2 seasons with Atlanta--the entirety of his previous big league experience--Linares had a total of eight homers.

But in three months with Edmonton this year, Linares hit 12. And now, he has two quick ones with the Angels.

The reason for the sudden surge?

“I’ve always gone to right field before,” Linares said. “Now, I like to pull the ball to left field. I’m looking at a lot of inside pitches right now, so I’m pulling the ball.”

Linares also has a new incentive to start putting the ball in the outfield seats: staying in the major leagues. Recalled from Edmonton when Daryl Sconiers was put on the disabled list, Linares is serving as Mauch’s right-handed designated hitter.

Mauch likes to get home runs from his designated hitters.

“My job was to get back to the big leagues,” Linares said. “Now, I want to try and stay here. I don’t know what my situation on the team is. But you never know what can happen once you get going.”

Mauch, who was instrumental in getting Linares back to the major leagues, figuring that his team would face a heavy dose of left-handed pitching on this trip, admitted he has received more from the 34-year-old than he bargained for.

“We knew he could hit left-handers,” Mauch said. But for home runs? No.”

So another role player is helping keep the Angels on a roll.

“We’re lucky have so many good players around,” Mauch said.

That is an opinion that Ron Romanick would have to second.

Angel Notes Geoff Zahn Update: The left-handed starting pitcher threw for 20 minutes on the sidelines Wednesday and said his arm felt fairly good. “But not as good as the time before (Friday in Boston).” Zahn is scheduled to meet with Gene Mauch and pitching coach Marcel Lachemann today to discuss his progress and the likeliness of his returning to the rotation on this trip. “I’d go out and pitch right now if I had my way,” Zahn said. “It’s a matter of whether I can.” . . . Brian Downing’s first-inning error snapped an errorless streak of 228 games, leaving him 16 shy of the American League record for outfielders, 244, which Downing also set in 1982-83. . . . Wednesday’s victory over Milwaukee’s Ted Higuera was the 14th for the Angels in their last 15 games against left-handed starting pitchers. Only Boston’s Bruce Hurst, who beat the Angels, 10-1, last Thursday, interrupted the streak. . . . Ron Romanick was extolling the virtues of the Angel bullpen for a group of reporters when Donnie Moore sauntered by, motioned to Romanick and called out, “More, more.” Romanick laughed and obliged. “Maybe we should nominate him for sainthood,” he said, nodding toward Moore.

Rod Carew’s Milestones

Hit Date Opposing Pitcher Opposing Team 500 April 10, 1971 Tommy John White Sox 1,000 Aug. 14, 1973 Ed Farmer Tigers 1,500 May 27, 1976 Mike Torrez Athletics 2,000 July 15, 1978 Bill Lee Red Sox 2,500 Sept. 26, 1981 Juan Berenguer Blue Jays 2,990 July 23, 1985 Danny Darwin Brewers