Mariners’ Homers Sink Angels, 6-5, in First of Two Games

Rod Carew and Reggie Jackson continued to follow a statistical road map toward Cooperstown Monday night, but their efforts were overshadowed by a 6-5 Angel defeat.

The Angels led, 5-2, when Seattle rallied for a tie with three runs in the eighth, then won it on Phil Bradley’s towering home run off Donnie Moore in the ninth inning of the doubleheader’s opening game.

The second was even more lively.

The Angels led it, 4-3, after seven, having scored three runs in the fourth, two on Brian Downing’s 12th home run.

The inning also featured a near free for all initiated by Carew, who carried the memory of being hit by an Ed Vande Berg pitch here on April 28. Carew felt it was intentional and said he would not forget, which he obviously didn’t.

This time, after drawing a walk off Vande Berg, the two exchanged words as Carew reached the base, then moved toward the mound, attempting to shake the restraining hold of coach Bobby Knoop.

Both benches emptied, but no punches were thrown, though Carew and Vande Berg struggled to get at each other.

It was only after order was restored that Seattle pitching coach Phil Regan, protecting Van de Berg’s interests, took umbrage with the remarks of plate umpire Daryl Cousins, attempted to go after Cousins physically and had to be restrained by the three other umpires. Regan was ejected.

Vande Berg, who had also pitched in the first game, was replaced at the start of the fifth.

The improbable first game comeback by a team that had lost seven of eight previous games to the Angels, including six in a row, took the edge off Carew’s three singles and Jackson’s 521st home run.

Carew now has a career total of 3,008 and has moved ahead of Al Kaline (3,007) into 14th place on the all-time list. Jackson’s 18th homer of the season enabled him to tie Willie McCovey and Ted Williams for eighth place on the all-time list.

The Angels also got a two-run homer from third baseman Jack Howell, who was recalled from Edmonton earlier Monday and arrived with the Pacific Coast League’s leading average of .373.

The Mariners, however, conducted their own home run derby, collecting four in this opener of a five-game series designed to make up the two games that the Angels and Seattle did not play in Anaheim because of the strike.

Moore, attempting to save Mike Witt’s 10th win while working for the first time in eight days, yielded more than one earned run for only the fourth time in 45 appearances.

The Angels had jumped on right-hander Frank Wills for three runs in the first. Brian Downing singled, stole second, moved to third on a single by Carew, then scored when Ruppert Jones grounded into a force play.

Jackson, who had only two hits in his last 20 at-bats and no home runs since July 28, then followed with a two-run shot into the first row of the left-center field bleachers. The homer left Jackson 13 shy of Jimmie Foxx, his next target on the all-time list. Foxx had 534.

The Mariners closed to 3-2 in the fourth when Alvin Davis hit his 10th homer and Dave Henderson added an RBI double in the wake of a single by Jim Presley.

The Angels came back against Wills in the sixth when Jackson turned a two-out grounder to deep short into a hustling single, and Howell, who had batted .158 when recalled to replace injured Doug DeCinces for 12 games in May, followed with his second major league homer into the right-field seats.

Witt still had the three-run lead with two outs in the eighth, but Barry Bonnell, a strike out victim in each of his three previous at-bats, then hit his first homer of the season to make it, 5-4.

Moore replaced Witt, went to a full count on Henderson, and promptly yielded a game-tying homer, Henderson’s 10th and only the fifth off Moore in 63 innings.

It would not be the last of this game, however.

After the Angels stranded a pair of runners in the visitors’ ninth, Moore got two infield outs in the home half, then got a fastball up to Bradley, a former All Big Eight quarterback at Missouri.

Now in his second season as the Seattle left fielder, Bradley came in hitting .308 and turned Moore’s fastball into his 15th homer, proving that the three he had hit to win a pregame contest from two teammates and three Angels, including Jackson, were no fluke.

Moore, who has 21 saves, emerged with a 7-5 record. Edwin Nunez, who came on to retire Jerry Narron and Craig Gerber on pop-ups with two on in the ninth, gained his sixth win against one loss.

Angel Notes

The Angels created room for Jack Howell by optioning versatile Darrell Miller to Edmonton. Miller was hitting .290 in 33 games, mostly as a defensive replacement for Reggie Jackson. “Darrell will be back,” Manager Gene Mauch said. “He contributed--just as every kid we’ve had on the roster has contributed.” . . . Howell’s recall stemmed from Mauch’s concern about the fact that the Angels are playing nine straight games on AstroTurf. “I get nervous about Doug DeCinces and Bobby Grich playing too many games on AstroTurf in a row,” Mauch said. “If one of them breaks down, I’d never forgive myself.” . . . No surprise: AL President Bobby Brown ruled that the Mariners will be the home team for all five games. . . . Ron Romanick (13-5) faces Mark Langston (5-9) tonight. Channel 5 will televise at 7:35.