Niekro Has Win No. 297; Angels Have Zero Again

Maybe it’s because Phil Niekro, at 46, reflects on the Angels’ golden oldies and says to himself, “Hey, here’s a team with which I can relate.”

Or maybe it’s simply because Niekro’s renowned knuckler is a pitch to defy the ages--old, young and in between.

Whatever the explanation--and the latter seems more logical because Niekro now has 297 career victories--the bewildered Angels have faced him three times in four months and are zero for 1985.

No wins, no runs and virtually no hits.

The New York Yankees defeated the Angels, 4-0, Thursday night as Niekro allowed three singles and a double in seven innings.

He left with a measure of stiffness in his right elbow, then watched Dave Righetti hold the Angels hitless in the eighth and ninth, preserving Niekro’s 13th win against nine defeats.

It was also the Yankees’ seventh win in nine games with the Angels this year, and their 18th in their last 22 overall this season, putting them within four games of Toronto in the American League East.

The Angels, who aren’t hitting anyone, let alone a pitcher of Niekro’s prowess, are now 1 1/2 games ahead of Kansas City in the West. The Royals were rained out Thursday while holding a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning at Milwaukee. This was small solace for the Angels, who are 0-3 against Niekro this season, having collected just eight hits in 25 shutout innings.

Asked to explain his dominance, Niekro said:

“Maybe it’s because I’m getting Brian Downing out a little more than I used to. You’d have to ask them. They know what’s coming.”

Indeed.

“Same old garbage, day in and day out,” Angel catcher Bob Boone said of the Niekro knuckler. “He just threw it for strikes again. I’ve hit off him on nights when you can forget hitting off him, but this wasn’t one of them. I mean, we did hit a few balls hard, but they were right at someone.”

Angel Manager Gene Mauch shook his head.

“It’s funny,” he said. “I had a good feeling about it tonight. Like when we finally got to (Bert) Blyleven this year. What was it . . . the third time? So much for him (Niekro) and my feelings.”

Last year, Niekro’s first in the AL, he was 1-3 against the Angels, allowing 31 hits and 13 earned runs in 24 innings.

“His location has been better,” Mauch said, “and he keeps getting more clever with it. He can change speeds on the knuckler just like (Ron) Romanick can change speeds with his fastball.”

While the work of the Angels’ starting rotation became a subject of concern on the recent home stand, the club’s hitting was also deteriorating. Niekro simply extended the struggle.

The Angels are batting .217 in their last 13 games. They’ve collected six hits or less in five of the last six and totaled just 15 hits in the last three.

The problem is compounded by the fact that the hitters are being asked to overcome first-inning deficits on a nightly basis. The opposition has scored in the first inning of seven of the last nine games, totaling 20 runs.

Said Mauch: “This club has proved it can come back, but it kind of wears you down, day after day. That’s no fun.

“The determination (to come back) was there again tonight, but against a good pitcher, you can stuff the determination in your hip pocket.”

Kirk McCaskill, making his first start in Yankee Stadium, gave up three runs in the first inning of this one, then allowed only four hits and an unearned run over the last eight innings.

“Instead of doing what I do best, which is relaxing and throwing strikes,” McCaskill said of the three-run first, “I tensed up and lost my tempo. I was worried about getting the ball up to a team that hits as well as the Yankees, but the more I told myself to keep it down, the more I kept it up.”

Rickey Henderson blooped a single to open the first. Willie Randolph walked. Don Mattingly’s deep fly-out advanced the runners, both of whom scored when Dave Winfield laced a one-ball, two-strike single.

McCaskill hit Don Baylor with a pitch to load the bases, then walked Mike Pagliarulo to force in the third run.

Said Mauch: “I can’t wait for McCaskill (now 9-9) to find out how good he is. If he connects on that 1-and-2 pitch to Winfield, we’re still zip- zip.”

Niekro, who was already in his third year as a professional pitcher when McCaskill was born, was challenged only in the seventh when George Hendrick was thrown out at home attempting to score from first on Boone’s two-out double into the left-field corner. Hendrick had missed a steal sign or would have scored easily, which does not explain coach Moose Stubing sending him home with the Angels trailing, 3-0.

Niekro has five or six starts left and was asked about 300 wins.

“Don’t ask,” he said. “I’m only interested in getting to the World Series. If I get 300, I’ll get it. If I don’t get another win all year and we go to the World Series, I’ll take it.

“I’m saying that I didn’t go to spring training so that I could win 16 games and reach 300. There are other goals more important.”

Angel Notes

The Yankees, who had lost two in a row at Oakland, have now won eight in a row at Yankee Stadium, where they boast baseball’s best home record of 41-l5. “You always want to be playing at home,” Manager Billy Martin said, “especially us.” . . . Ron Romanick, who has an 11.32 ERA for his last four starts and was originally scheduled to start the trip opener, has been moved back to Saturday because of Manager Gene Mauch’s belief that he requires added rest. “We’re going to take advantage of every chance we get to stretch him out an extra day,” Mauch said. “It was very helpful to him last year, when he got past 150 innings.” . . . Mauch has also decided to start John Candelaria (2-1) tonight after saying Tuesday in Anaheim that he would employ Candy strictly in relief against the Yankees. “We got Candelaria to put him in the rotation and pitch him,” Mauch said. “Thinking about it, I kept asking myself, ‘why fool around with it (by not starting him)?’ I think we’ll be better off for doing it this way.” . . . Candelaria, who has gone only 1 innings in each of his last two starts, will face Marty Bystrom (3-1). . . . The Angels have activated Doug Corbett to replace Alan Fowlkes, who went on the disabled list Tuesday with a stress fracture in his right elbow. Corbett went on the DL for a nerve irritation in his left knee July 25, had arthroscopic surgery Aug. 5 and pitched three scoreless innings in his only appearance during a brief rehabilation assignment at Edmonton. . . . Doug DeCinces missed his 11th straight start because of the lingering stiffness from his back spasms. “I thought it was fine when I went out to run before the game,” DeCinces said, “but then it kept getting tighter and tighter. I don’t know if I’m trying to rush it or what. I don’t know what the answer is.” . . . A Yankee Stadium marque read “Reggie Returns Tonight.’ Reggie Jackson did return, but he didn’t start. He has one hit in his last 23 at-bats and was 0 for 3 with a strikeout in his only 1985 start against Phil Niekro. He was also nursing a head cold. Said Jackson: “I took it (not starting) as if Gene was doing me a favor.” Said Mauch: “I want Reggie to have a big series here, but I didn’t think that facing Niekro was the way to start it.”