Romanick Stops Angels’ Slide, 8-5 : Young Veteran Beats Oakland for His 13th Win of Season

When the Angels arrived here Monday, still smarting after being swept out of Toronto, Manager Gene Mauch said it was up to the “veterans” of his rookie-laden pitching rotation--25-year-old Mike Witt and 24-year-old Ron Romanick--to get his team back on track.

Witt went seven fairly strong innings Tuesday night, but the Angels came up short, 5-4, in 10 innings to stretch their longest losing streak of the season to five games.

Wednesday night, the pressure was on Romanick, and he responded with a five-hitter in 8 innings as the Angels snapped the skid with an 8-5 win over the A’s in front of 20,293 at the Oakland Coliseum. The Angels have a 2 1/2-game lead over Kansas City, and the A’s are five back.

The Angels are not exactly a team steeped in pitching tradition and Romanick, 13-4 for the year, became only the fourth Angel pitcher in five years to win 13 games. Witt did it in 1984, Ken Forsch did it in 1982, and Geoff Zahn accomplished the feat both of those years.

Romanick got off to a good start and managed to survive a few down-the-middle sliders that Mike Davis, Bruce Bochte and Dusty Baker turned into souvenirs. He went out in favor of Donnie Moore in the ninth after Baker hit a solo homer to left.

Romanick, tied with New York’s Ron Guidry for the American League lead in wins, said he felt no pressure, just “added incentive” when he walked out to the mound Wednesday evening.

“I like the challenge . . . I get high on that stuff,” he said. “Climbing the mountain, or whatever. It makes me perform better.”

Romanick said he was “wild in the strike zone” and that his usually consistent slider deserted him. But he was able to overcome those three mistakes.

“I’m just glad they didn’t cost me the game,” he said.

He wasn’t the only one. Mauch wasn’t exactly doing back-flips, but it was obvious W-I-N spelled relief on this night.

“Ron had the best stuff he’s had in quite a while tonight,” Mauch said. “I think that had a lot to do with it. He kinda came roaring out after the hitters. Then he did some real clever pitching in the seventh and eighth.”

The Angels led, 4-0, after four innings but had to rally with two in the eighth and two more in the ninth to win it.

Mauch had more to be happy about than a good pitching performance and the end of a losing streak, though.

For example:

--The game also marked the return of center fielder Gary Pettis, who had missed 26 games with a sprained wrist. Pettis went 1 for 4 and forced an error with his speed.

--Brian Downing, who has been struggling all year, continued his slow climb toward respectability with two hits, including a two-run homer in the fourth. He is now batting .236.

--And Doug DeCinces, nursing a sore back, returned to the lineup and hammered a two-run homer to right-center in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

“We have all the ingredients,” Mauch said, “but we need all of them to be there all the time.”

The Angels had only one lead--a 1-0 advantage Saturday at Toronto that didn’t last through the first inning--in more than a week, but they managed to get on the scoreboard first Wednesday night.

Bobby Grich doubled to left in the first inning and scored on Juan Beniquez’s line-drive single to center. Then, after Dick Schofield drew a one-out walk in the second, Pettis made his presence felt in his first at-bat since June 30. He nubbed a slow roller toward shortstop, and Alfredo Griffin’s hurried throw ended up in the Angel dugout. Schofield ended up on third and Pettis on second.

Downing, who was 0 for 17 as a leadoff hitter when he stepped to the plate in the second, lined a single to left. Schofield trotted home, but Pettis, sliding in about 15 feet behind Schofield, was out on Baker’s throw to catcher Mickey Tettleton.

Downing came through again in the fourth, slamming a shot into the left-field stands with two out after Bob Boone had singled.

The A’s, however, cut the deficit in half in the fifth, and the guy doing the damage was all too familiar to the Angels. Baker opened the inning with a sharp single to center and then Davis--who had 10 RBIs in the first series against the Angels at Oakland--belted a towering shot into the right-field bleachers to make it 4-2. The home run gave Davis four homers, 16 RBIs and .414 average against the Angels this season.

Romanick, who had sailed through the early innings, retiring 12 of the first 13 A’s, wasn’t fooling too many people by the fifth. Former Angel Bochte got the A’s back to within one run in the sixth when Romanick delivered another slider that didn’t slide, and Bochte deposited it in the right-field seats.

The A’s tied the game in the seventh, with the help of Schofield’s throwing error, but the Angels went ahead for good in the eighth after a Griffin fielding error opened the door. Bob Boone drove in one run with a single to left and Rod Carew brought in another with career hit 2,994, a line-drive single to right.

Angel Notes Rookie right-hander Tony Mack was sent back down to Edmonton to make room on the roster for Gary Pettis, who came off the disabled list and returned to the starting lineup Wednesday. Mack made one start and suffered a loss Saturday in Toronto, allowing four earned runs in 2 innings. Mack said he was disappointed, but hoped he proved something to the Angels despite the poor performance. “I went out feeling I could beat Toronto and I still feel I could beat them,” he said. “At least they (the Angel management) know I can come into a situation like that and not be overwhelmed by the circumstances.” Mack said he wasn’t prepared for the move but was aware it might happen anytime. “I hoped it wasn’t going to be a one-start situation, though,” he said. . . . Angel Manager Gene Mauch said either Geoff Zahn or Jim Slaton would start Saturday against Minnesota at Anaheim. “Geoff told me his arm felt ‘much better’ this time after throwing the simulated game than it did last time,” Mauch said. “Now the question is whether ‘much better’ really means ‘less worse.’ ” Zahn will likely get the start if he says he’s ready. . . . Reggie Jackson told a group of reporters that Rod Carew was upset about being labeled “enigmatic” in a recent article. “He asked me what it meant,” Jackson said. “I told him it took him 20 years to become an enigma, and they were calling me that after I was in the league three years. I’m still ahead of him, though. Now, I’ve moved up to ‘eccentric.’ ” . . . Doug DeCinces was back in the lineup Wednesday, but he said his lower back was still a bit stiff. “I don’t even think I did anything to it,” DeCinces said. “Maybe it was the plane ride from Toronto, I don’t know. But when you’ve got a back like mine you just learn to deal with it. It’ll beat you if you let it. I won’t let it.” He got a chance to test it in a hurry Wednesday, making a sliding catch of Bruce Bochte’s pop foul in the first inning. . . . The Angels-A’s telecast Tuesday night drew an 11 rating, the second highest of the season. The May 29 game in New York got a 12 share. . . . Oakland Mayor Lionel J. Wilson and a group of business leaders are scheduled to meet Friday to develop a plan for immediate financial assistance for the ailing A’s franchise. Wilson said he was considering some form of loan, not direct aid from city funds.