Jackson and Carew Hit Milestones as Angels Battle Back for a Split

Rod Carew and Reggie Jackson produced a couple milestones Monday only to be overshadowed by the millstone of a 6-5 Angels defeat in the first game of a doubleheader.

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

The second game, featuring a near free-for-all apparently initiated by Carew, was won by the Angels, 4-3, much to the consternation of 57,095 partisans, who were able to buy discount tickets through the generosity of a Seattle outlet store.

The near fight took place in the fourth.

Carew carried the memory of being hit by an Ed Vande Berg pitch here April 28. Carew had felt it was intentional, predicting he would not forget. He obviously didn’t.

This time, after drawing a walk off the Seattle left-hander, he jawed with Vande Berg while jogging to first, then slowly moved toward the mound, attempting to shake the restraining hold of Angel coach Bobby Knoop.

Both benches emptied, but there was only the customary milling and pushing, although Carew and Vande Berg made genuine bids to do more.

It was only after order was restored that Seattle pitching coach Phil Regan, protecting Vande Berg’s interests, took umbrage with the remarks of plate umpire Derryl 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.

There was no other controversy, only a return to form by the Angels, 25-9 in games decided by one run.

Luis Sanchez pitched three scoreless innings to help Jim Slaton, working for the first time in 18 days, snap his six-game losing streak. Slaton pitched six innings and was provided a 4-2 lead in the fourth when the Angels rallied for three runs, two on Brian Downing’s 12th home run, which extended a Downing hitting streak to 14 games and ultimately enabled the Angels to emerge with a three-game lead over Kansas City in the American League West.

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 has a career total of 3,009 hits 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 Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for eighth place on the all-time list.

The Angels also got a two-run homer by their third baseman of the future, 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 a pyrotechnic start to a five game series designed to make up the two games that the Angels and Seattle lost in Anaheim because of the strike.

Moore, attempting to save Mike Witt’s 10th win while working for the first time in eight days, permitted 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. 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 strikeout 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 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.

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.