A’s Squeeze Out 4-3 Win Over the Angels : Boone’s Lapse Allows Davis to Go to Third, Oakland to Stay in Race By

Gene Mauch calls it Little Ball. His Angels are generally artists at the execution of it and defensing against it.

Sunday, however, the Oakland A’s beat the Angels at their own game, 4-3. Billy Ball, yes. Little Ball, no.

Said Mauch, of the breakdown in fundamentals:

“I expect us to play ABC Ball better than anyone and I’m amazed, maybe even shocked, when we don’t.

“We’re supposed to be the best bunting team in baseball, but they outbunted us.”

And kept Oakland in the AL West race in the process. A third straight loss would have left the A’s seven games behind the Angels in the American League West.

Now, by overcoming a 3-1, seventh inning deficit before an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 28,793, the A’s are back to within five games with the finale of the four-game series tonight.

Kansas City, which lost in Toronto, is only 2 1/2 out.

Said Oakland Manager Jackie Moore:

“I can’t imagine what I’d be thinking now if we hadn’t won this game. It was a game we had to win.”

The Angels seemed to have it won before Al Holland replaced Ron Romanick in the seventh and served up a two-run, game-tying homer to Bruce Bochte.

Then, with Donnie Moore pitching in the eighth, Mike Davis hit a leadoff grounder wide of first. Rod Carew couldn’t reach it. Bobby Grich did deep in the hole, but Davis beat Moore to the base.

The A’s, on the suggestion of coach Clete Boyer, who formerly played with and coached under Billy Martin, had decided before the inning even started to employ a run-and-bunt if Davis got on.

The play is designed to let the runner go from first to third if the bunt pulls the third baseman in. Donnie Hill, who leads the American League in sacrifice bunts, put it down perfectly. Third baseman Jack Howell raced in to get the out at first. Catcher Bob Boone, who was supposed to cover third, had been frozen when Davis broke. There was nothing the Angels could do but watch Davis continue to the uncovered base.

The next batter was Dave Collins, who fouled off a pair of full swings in taking the count to one-and-two, then did his part in a suicide squeeze with a bunt to the right of the mound. Davis was home before Moore had the ball, leaving only the out at first.

The run proved decisive, leaving the Angels with a 25-10 record in games decided by the thinnest of margins, a measure of their usual competency at doing the little things.

The Angels, for example, lead the league and rank third in the majors in sacrifice bunts. This time, however, Juan Beniquez popped out on a sacrifice attempt after Brian Downing walked to open the seventh, and Boone did the same after Howell opened the ninth with a single.

It was an uncharacteristic performance, but that failed to ease the manager’s comfort. A grim-faced Mauch said the A’s played the way they play best. He reflected on the run-and-bunt and said: “The guy who was supposed to be at third knows better. It’s automatic when the runner on first breaks. Oakland has had that play for five years that I know of. At least ever since Billy and Clete were there.”

Boone accepted the responsibility for failing to cover but said: “If it’s a normal bunt situation, no problem. But with Davis running, I have to shift to a throwing position (in case the hitter misses the pitch). Once I do that, I can’t beat the runner to third.”

Said Davis: “It’s a beautiful play when executed right. The ball has to be bunted directly at the third baseman. Donnie (Hill) is the best bunter in the league. The catcher had no chance to get to third ahead of me.”

Of the ensuing squeeze with two strikes, Collins said, “It came as a surprise, including to me. But then that’s what the play is all about.”

Moore emerged with his sixth loss against seven wins. He pitched 2 innings. Mauch wasn’t happy about that either.

“Why the hell do I want him in there with the score tied?” he said of the man who usually preserves leads.

Mauch had hoped to have Moore start the eighth with a 3-1 lead. Holland’s failure to retire the left-handed-hitting Bochte with two out in the seventh prompted an immediate call to Moore.

“The whole thing got out of sync,” Mauch said.

Holland had allowed only four hits and one run in the eight innings of his three previous appearances with the Angels before Bochte powered his 10th home run.

“A fast ball up in the strike zone and out over the plate,” Holland said. “There’ll be another time.”

Romanick, blistered for 14 runs and 18 hits in the 6 innings of his two previous starts since the strike ended, regained a measure of form, allowing six hits, four walks and a solo run before leaving seven outs shy of his 14th win.

The Angels were restricted to seven hits and only one off Jose Rijo and Steve Ontiveros over the final five innings. Rijo worked a hitless four before Howell opened the ninth with a single, bringing on Ontiveros to register his sixth save.

The hard stuff thrown by the two A’s relievers was in direct contrast to the changing speeds of Tommy John, whose first start against the Angels since his June 25 release ended with no outs in the fifth when the torrid Downing laced a two-run double to break a 1-1 tie.

The first run off John had been somewhat tainted. It came in the third when Beniquez lifted a drive to the warning track in right-center. Dwayne Murphy, the center fielder, moved over, reached up and had the ball in his glove on the warning track when it popped out, up and over the fence for Beniquez’s sixth home run.

“I can’t tell you how it happened,” Murphy said. “I had the ball in my glove and was bringing it back when I knocked it over the fence. I actually think the ball bounced out of my glove and off my shoulder. I couldn’t find a hole to hide in.”

With a single ahead of Bochte’s homer, Murphy would later help the A’s dig out of that 3-1 hole.

Angel Notes Mike Witt, whose inconsistency has troubled the Angels, was examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum and found to have tendinitis in his right shoulder. Witt received cortisone orally and will not miss a turn, according to an Angel spokesman. However, Manager Gene Mauch said he wasn’t certain. “There’s a chance,” Mauch said when asked if Witt might skip his next start. . . . Doug DeCinces, who left Saturday’s game with a back spasm after his first at-bat, received a cortisone injection from Dr. Yocum Sunday and was sent home following treatment. The spasm is not believed to be as severe as when DeCinces went on the disabled list in May, but he is expected to miss tonight’s game, as well as two or three more. . . . Brian Downing now has 21 RBIs and a .446 average in his last 19 games and has raised his average 80 points from the .194 of June 21. . . . George Hendrick, 2 for 17 as an Angel, grounded into a double play and grounded out before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the fifth. . . . Tommy John is averaging less than four innings for his four starts with the A’s, having allowed 10 runs and 23 hits in 15 innings. . . . Kirk McCaskill (8-7) will face Don Sutton (12-6 with 292 career wins) in tonight’s game. Sutton has won three straight and nine of his last 10 starts.