The Gripes of Wrath Are All That Is Left for Angels After Loss

Almost an hour after the final out Saturday, the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon still sat open but untouched on the bottom of Don Sutton’s locker.

Sutton returned finally from a long shower and slipped the cork back in.

“No one wanted any,” he said. “It wasn’t a red wine kind of day.”

It was a day that called for something stiffer, a day on which the Angels squandered a 5-0 eighth-inning lead over Cleveland and a chance to take a one-game Western Division lead over Kansas City, which lost again in Minnesota.

In a game that turned on the type of pitching decision that has haunted Gene Mauch in previous autumns of his managerial career, the Indians scored the five tying runs off Donnie Moore in the eighth, then beat the Angels, 7-5, on catcher Jerry Willard’s two-run homer off Stewart Cliburn in the ninth.

Still tied with the Royals after wasting seven shutout innings by Sutton, the shocked Angels also faced the depressing thought of having a night off in Cleveland, where a Saturday night is not a lot different from a Monday night.

“Having it happen is bad enough without having to talk about it,” a grim-faced Mauch said of the improbable defeat when the media arrived in his clubhouse office.

“But as I just told the players, this means one thing and one thing only . . . we lost the game.

“It’s as tough a loss as we’ve had, but I can’t measure disappointment. It’s something I never think about.”

Mauch was asked to think about the decision to remove Sutton, who yielded singles to the first two batters he faced, retired the next 14 in order before Willard singled to open the sixth, then left with a three-hitter after the seventh, having made 93 pitches.

“Sutton would have had to go beyond what he’s thrown all year,” Mauch said of the pitch total. “He’d gone far enough. Donnie hadn’t pitched since Wednesday (when he went 2 innings for his 29th save against Chicago). A five-run lead with Donnie Moore looked like a laugher to me.”

Sutton agreed. At the age of 40, he has completed just one of 33 starts.

“I’ve reached a stage where I know my limitations,” he said. “Ninety-five to 105 pitches is about it.

“There’s no question but that to have me go further wouldn’t have been a good idea.

“If I go out for the eighth inning and give up a hit or two, he’s going to have to take me out anyway. It made more sense to let Donnie start the inning.

“We have two guys (Moore and Cliburn) who are about the best in the league. What happened today was a freak. You’ll see it happen about as often as you’ll see Slippery Rock beat Ohio State. It’ll happen about every Halley’s Comet.

“I mean, I’d love to make 35 starts where I can get to Donnie Moore, because we’ll win 30 of them. We’ll win all those that aren’t wiped out by earthquake.”

Wiped out by the tremor of the Indian comeback--the Angels’ second straight loss here--was Sutton’s potential 16th victory of the year and 296th win of his career.

“That’s not the big issue,” Sutton said of his bid for 300. “Barring an act of God, I’m going to get my five more. The disappointment at this is that we needed it to go one up on Kansas City.

“It was an opportunity lost, but I don’t think we lost any confidence. I’ve been on championship teams where I’ve seen the same air and atmosphere. I still think we’re going to win it. We were just delayed a day.”

This is how it happened:

George Vukovich opened the eighth against Moore with his sixth home run of the season. There was one out when Carmen Castillo singled. There were two outs when Tony Bernazard and Julio Franco singled, making it 5-2.

Mauch went to the mound in an attempt to change the inning’s tempo, to give Moore a fresh start. Andre Thornton belted the next pitch over the left-field fence for his 20th home run. The game was tied.

Moore got the final out of the eighth, but Cliburn was brought on to pitch the ninth, his first appearance since last Sunday.

The inning began ominously. Shortstop Dick Schofield booted Brook Jacoby’s ground ball. Vukovich attempted to sacrifice but forced Jacoby at second. It didn’t matter. Willard followed with his sixth home run, clearing the right-field fence, to saddle Cliburn with his third defeat against nine victories.

“I was trying to bust a slider on his hands,” Cliburn said, “but I got it over the plate. It was a bad pitch, and he took advantage of it. It’s tough to take in this situation, but it’s going to happen. You have to accept the good with the bad. You have to stay on an even keel.”

A Juan Beniquez triple and a Brian Downing single had given Sutton a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Cleveland starter Jamie Easterly left in the fifth, when Gary Pettis and Rod Carew singled in two more. A double by Downing and a single by Bobby Grich helped make it 5-0 in the seventh, in which Dave Von Ohlen was the victim. Jerry Reed, the fifth Cleveland pitcher, ultimately retired the Angels in order in the ninth to gain the win.

Moore sat at his locker later and expressed surprise at the decision to remove Sutton. He added, however, that it had nothing to do with his own performance.

“I couldn’t get the ball down,” he said. “I had no rhythm. You can’t make pitches like that and win.”

Said Mauch: “The man didn’t have his best stuff. What’s that . . . maybe three times all year? I know it smarts. I know it hurts. We had this one counted, but they all know we wouldn’t be where we are without Donnie Moore. They all know he’ll be there again for them.”

Angel Notes

Don Sutton’s strikeout of Brook Jacoby in the third inning was his third of the game and 100th of the season, extending his major league record for consecutive seasons with 100 or more strikeouts to 20. He has 3,308 strikeouts in his career and ranks sixth on the all-time list. . . . Perspective: Sutton was removed with a two-hit shutout after seven innings of his first start with the Angels. Donnie Moore saved the 2-0 victory over Texas. Sutton pitched his first and last complete game of 1985 when he was with the Oakland A’s on June 26 against Chicago. . . . Andre Thornton has 17 homers and 63 RBIs since July 4, a span of 70 games. . . . Of his game-winning homer, Jerry Willard said: “They were pitching me inside all day. Then this Cliburn fellow, whoever he is, pitched the ball over the plate, and I hit it out. Well, I guess he doesn’t know who I am either. Like, it’s not a classic matchup, Cliburn against Willard.” . . . It was a year ago Saturday that the Indians staged another comeback, helping eliminate Minnesota. They trailed the Twins, 10-0, after 2 1/2 innings, then won, 11-10, to drop Minnesota three back of Kansas City, which clinched the division title that night. . . . Advance scouts Ed Liberatore and Mel Didier of the Dodgers, preparing for a possible freeway World Series, began following the Angels Saturday. . . . The Angels’ Kirk McCaskill (11-11) faces Curt Wardle (8-8) in today’s series finale.