Orioles Punch Hole in Mauch’s 5-Infielder Strategy to Win, 4-3

In a summer that ranks as one of the manager’s finest, followers of the Angels believe that Gene Mauch has been doing it with mirrors.

Saturday night, however, Mauch put the mirrors aside and tried doing it with a five-man infield.

His pocketful of miracles now seems empty.

Baltimore left fielder Mike Young snapped a 3-3 tie when he grounded a bases-loaded single through Mauch’s innovative alignment in the ninth inning, saddling the Angels with a 4-3 defeat that dropped them 1 1/2 games behind Kansas City in the West.

Wilting amid a suddenly sultry September in the East, the Angels are now 3-6 on a trip that ends today.

This time, they stranded 12 runners--five at third base--en route to a defeat that again left the Little General pacing the clubhouse in pained frustration.

“They battled like hell,” Mauch said of the Angels, “but just couldn’t turn the tap. We had more than one chance.

“I imagine that’s why the squeeze play was invented more than 100 years ago.”

He alluded to the Angels’ failure to get the runs in from third. The last and best chance came in the ninth, which Juan Beniquez opened with a double. A sacrifice put pinch-runner Devon White on third.

Former Angel Don Aase, who emerged with his ninth win against five defeats, then blew third strikes past pinch hitters Reggie Jackson (whose employment seemed to leave Mauch open for second-guessing) and Ruppert Jones.

This took it into the home ninth, which Lee Lacy opened with a ground single off Donnie Moore, who had replaced starter Mike Witt in the eighth.

Lacy, who had previously walked twice, singled and stolen second, promptly stole second again, and Cal Ripken followed with another ground single up the middle. Shortstop Craig Gerber made a good play to deflect it, holding Lacy at third.

Mauch now had no other choice but to issue an intentional walk to Eddie Murray, whose fifth-inning homer had given Baltimore a temporary lead of 3-2. The bases were loaded with no outs when Mauch took it the extra step.

He waived right fielder Jones out of the game and inserted shortstop Gustavo Polidor, recently recalled from Edmonton.

Polidor was instructed to make his major league debut as the fifth infielder, stationed between second baseman Rob Wilfong and first baseman Bobby Grich, who was playing off the line, a significant point. The infield was drawn in on the grass. Center fielder Gary Pettis played in shallow right-center while left fielder Brian Downing played straightaway in shallow left.

The left-handed hitting Young took the count to 1 and 2 against Moore, fouled off three pitches, then grounded the ball just inside the right-field line to win it.

Asked later if Grich should have been more closely guarding the line, Mauch said, “I think Mike Young is a middle-of-the-diamond bat. He had singled up the middle and grounded out up the middle. I wanted Grich equidistant from the line and Polidor.

“Donnie Moore threw a handful of ground balls. None of them found the gloves, that’s all.”

Mauch said he had employed five infielders on frequent occasions and “saved a lot of innings” in the process.

“But it’s the worst play to have to go to,” he said. “Who the hell wants to use it? Who the hell wants a runner on third with no outs or one out in a tie game?”

Young, who has 67 RBIs and 24 homers in an impressive season, said he had never seen it before but didn’t try to do anything differently.

“I really wanted to hit a fly ball,” he said. “Anything decent would have scored Lacy.”

Moore, now 7-8, said, “I was just trying to keep the ball on the ground. I got it, but it didn’t happen to be at . . . what did I have? Five infielders? I really thought I was going to get out of it.”

Witt had thrown 133 pitches in a seven inning stint in which he allowed eight hits. six walks and solo runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Murray supplied the one in the fifth with his 25th home run. He has five homers and 17 RBIs in 11 games with the Angels this year.

Baltimore errors provided the Angels with unearned runs in the first and third innings. The Angels rebounded from the Murray homer to tie it in the seventh on a Downing single, a sacrifice and a Grich single. Scott McGregor walked a tightrope through seven before Aase nullified that final threat in the ninth.

There was one out with the runner at third when Mauch replaced the right-handed Rufino Linares, a contact hitter, with the left-handed Jackson, who strikes out about once every three at bats and has just one sacrifice fly in the last two years.

“Reggie has been reveling in those kind of spots for 15 years,” Mauch said, “and Linares has never seen Don Aase that I know of.”

Jackson and Jones acted like they never had, either.

Angel Notes Baltimore Manager Earl Weaver played the game under protest, but the victory left it moot. The Angels had the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh when Gary Pettis hit a foul grounder down the third-base line. Plate umpire Durwood Merrill raised his arms to signify foul, prompting Bobby Grich, running from third, to scoop up the ball and throw it back to pitcher Scott McGregor. Weaver cited rule 7.09(c), which says a runner who interferes with a foul ball is automatically out. McGregor struck out Pettis, so no damage was done, meaning the protest would not have been upheld even if the Orioles had lost. . . . Weaver gloated later, calling the umpires room to sarcastically read 7.09(c) to crew chief Marty Springstead. “I felt like pulling my team off the field right there,” Weaver said. “I just don’t understand how the umpires don’t know the rules. It should have been called right there. Grich is a smart player and a good base runner. I’ve seen him do all kinds of things. If he’s in a rundown he’ll look to get hit with the ball. I’ve seen him put his knees down when he knew a baserunner was coming in head first. I give him credit, but he violated the rule on that one.” . . . Gary Pettis made another classic play in the sixth inning. He raced in to make a sliding catch of Alan Wiggins’ popup in left-center. Then, sitting on the grass, he delivered a one-bounce throw to first to double off John Shelby. It was Pettis’ 12th throwing assist of the year.