Mattingly Hits Pair; Yankees Bomb Angels

How hot is hot?

It’s a matter of degrees to Don Mattingly, the 1984 American League batting champion.

“I’ve been hitting the ball hard all along,” the New York first baseman said before the start of Tuesday night’s game with the Angels at Anaheim Stadium, “but the difference is that when I’m this hot, the pitches I was hitting for doubles I’m now hitting out.”

Thus, instead of a pair of doubles, the very hot Mattingly had a pair of home runs, establishing the tone as the Yankees hammered five homers en route to an 8-5 victory over the Angels before a crowd of 38,791.

The solo homers in the first and fourth innings gave Mattingly 22 for the season and a major league-leading total of 100 RBIs.

They also stretched his hitting streak to 18 games, a span in which he has 10 homers, 21 RBIs and a .466 batting average, improving his season’s average to .331, which gives him a shot at another batting title.

“I’m not interested in the title,” Mattingly said. “I’m only interested in wins.”

The Yankees are getting those at almost the same frequency that Mattingly is getting hits.

A solo homer by Dave Winfield (his 20th), a two-run homer by Mike Pagliarulo (13) and a solo homer by Rickey Henderson (19) helped revive memories of the Bronx Bombers as the Yankees made it six straight wins and 13 in their last 14 games to remain four back of Toronto in the American League East.

There was some solace for the Angels, who were beginning a stretch of 18 straight games against New York, Detroit and Baltimore. Kansas City also lost to remain 2 1/2 back in the West.

Jim Slaton, returning to the rotation as the replacement for Geoff Zahn, who returned to the disabled list Monday, drew his 10th loss in 15 decisions as he lasted only three plus innings, yielding back-to-back homers to Mattingly and Winfield in the first and a two-run double to Butch Wynegar in a five-run fourth.

Luis Sanchez replaced Slaton after the Wynegar double and promptly yielded the Pagliarulo homer, which put Sanchez in a familiar groove. He gave up Mattingly’s second homer later in the fourth and Henderson’s homer in the seventh.

It was 7-0 before the Angels scored four runs in the fifth on a two-run homer by Bobby Grich, his sixth, and a two-run single by Reggie Jackson.

Yankee starter Ed Whitson left during that inning with tightness in his right forearm. The Angels kept making it tighter as Bob Shirley, Rich Bordi and Dave Righetti were called on to preserve the win.

Righetti ultimately struck out Jackson after the Angels had collected a pair of two-out infield hits off Bordi, leading to a dramatic conclusion in the ninth.

The count went full before Righetti flamed a fastball past the renowned ex-Yankee for his 23rd save.

“I threw him only fastballs, and I tried to keep them up because he’s such a good low ball hitter,” Righetti said. “I didn’t want to pitch to his power.”

The Yankees are 5-1 against the Angels this year, 63-38 since Billy Martin replaced Yogi Berra as manager and winners of six of their last seven road games, reversing the trend that finds them with baseball’s best home record, 40-15, but only 29-33 on the road.

“We’ve lost some road games we should have won and we’ve won some home games we should have lost,” Martin said. “I really can’t explain the difference except that we get a lot of fan support at home.”

Martin wasn’t happy that Whitson was unable to take advantage of Tuesday night’s offensive support. Signed to a five-year, $4.4 million contract as a free agent, Whitson entered his 24th Yankee start with a 7-7 record, but had won five of his last six decisions.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with his arm,” Martin said of the starter’s premature departure. “He had numbness in his fingers. I didn’t know anything about it until I saw him shake the arm. I wish he had told me about it. We might not have gotten into as much trouble in that inning. I’m concerned about it because he had the same problem in San Diego (during the 1982 season).”

Whitson’s fingers will be fitted with a splint, and the condition reevaluated in 48 hours.

Asked to evaluate Slaton’s rotation return, Angel Manager Gene Mauch said there would be no change in his pitching alignment, though he was baffled by the frequency with which Slaton is yielding home runs. He has now given up 17 in 126 innings. The Sanchez ratio is worse. He has allowed eight in 47 innings.

Said Mauch: “We spotted them too much of a lead, but I liked the way we came back.”

Angel Notes

Juan Beniquez pinch-hit in the sixth inning Tuesday night and then stayed in to make his first appearance of the season at third base. Beniquez had previously appeared at all three outfield positions, shortstop and first base. . . . Ken Forsch, whose comeback from last year’s dislocated shoulder was interrupted in spring training by an elbow irritation that ultimately led to June 5 surgery for removal of bone chips, began throwing again Monday, four months ahead of schedule. Forsch, 39 on Sept. 8, is aiming for ‘86, which would make it two full years since he last started a league game. . . . Yankee catcher Ron Hassey remained in New York because of a kidney-stone problem. . . . Kirk McCaskill and Ron Romanick appear on today’s edition of “Days of Our Lives.” . . . Pitcher Urbano Lugo, recalled Monday from Edmonton, became a father for the first time Tuesday when his wife, Silvana, gave birth to a daughter, Jennifer Silvana, at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. . . . The Angels’ John Candelaria (2-0) faces the Yankees’ Joe Cowley (10-5) tonight.