Mariners Hammer Sutton for Eight Runs in 9-4 Win

One arm has a cracked bone spur in the left elbow. The other is sound.

One arm will face a surgeon’s scalpel this afternoon, an operation that will keep it out of action for at least two months. The other was primed to face the batting order of the Seattle Mariners.

There was one other small difference between the pitching arms of John Candelaria and Don Sutton Tuesday night.

Just two-thirds of an inning.

While Candelaria was checking into Inglewood’s Centinela Hospital Medical Center, Sutton was checking out of his second start of 1986 in near-record time. In what he termed the worst outing of his career, Sutton was hammered for eight runs and six hits as the Mariners routed the Angels, 9-4, before an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 24,422.

Sutton, bidding for win No. 296 of his career, came up just 25 outs short. For the record, he retired two Mariners--Danny Tartabull on a grounder and Gorman Thomas on a fly ball.

Everyone else he faced reached base--and scored.

“This may be the worst I’ve ever had,” Sutton said. “I remember one in Wrigley Field, but Walt (late Dodger Manager Walter Alston) didn’t leave me out there that long.”

The record book supports Sutton. His worst previous outing: five runs in one inning. He also was removed from another game after one out, but that was without allowing a run.

Of the 4,800-plus innings Sutton has thrown during a career that has spanned more than two decades, this may have been the longest.

“I don’t think it’s ever happened to Don Sutton before,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “And I don’t think it ever happened to me. I can never recall anything like that.”

Things began innocently enough. Tartabull led off the game with a routine grounder to short.

Little did Sutton realize that Tartabull would be heard from again--in the same inning.

Phil Bradley followed by bouncing a ground-rule double over the fence in right-center field. Ivan Calderon, previous owner of nine career big league home runs, reached double figures with his first of 1986--a shot into the second deck in center field.

After Thomas flied out for the second out, Alvin Davis and Jim Presley continued the attack with consecutive singles. Both scored when David Henderson doubled off the bottom of the left-field fence.

Walks to Steve Yeager and Spike Owen, Seattle’s No. 8 and No. 9 hitters, loaded the bases. That brought up Tartabull again. Sutton remembers the name Tartabull. He pitched against Danny’s dad, Jose, during spring training camps in the late 1960s.

These kids today! No respect for their elders.

Three pitches later, Sutton was out of the game and the game was out of hand.

Tartabull deposited Sutton’s 1-1 curveball over the 370-foot sign in left field for his fourth home run of the season and his second in two days. It wasn’t nearly as impressive as Monday’s--a monstrous blast of 450 feet to straightaway center--but it accomplished considerably more damage.

The grand slam turned a 4-0 Mariner lead into an 8-0 runaway. Sutton had allowed eight earned runs and was still looking for the third out of the first inning.

Mauch didn’t wait around to see if his starter would get it. He replaced Sutton then with Doug Corbett, who, at last, got Bradley to ground out to second.

“You can summarize it as bad stuff put in bad spots,” Sutton said. “The only good thing about it is that I’ve got 32 to 35 starts to forget about it.

“It’s kind of depressing at the moment, but it’s just another step on the ladder. We’re going to score some runs; my job is to keep us in it. Tonight was one of those nights when I put us in a hole . . . and that’s not fair to the other nine guys out there.”

Matt Young (2-0) pitched five innings to beat the Angels for the second time this week. He allowed two runs on eight hits, including Doug DeCinces’ first home run of the season.

Mike Morgan worked the final four innings to earn the save. He yielded three hits, George Hendrick’s third home run of the year among them.

Along with the two home runs, the Angels could only take solace in Corbett’s effort--5 innings of one-hit relief. It was Corbett’s longest stint in nearly two years.

“He knew we needed it and he gave it to us,” Mauch said. “You can tear a bullpen to shreds if somebody doesn’t come in and do something like that.”

Sutton wasn’t around to appreciate it, though. With permission from Mauch, he was homeward-bound long before the final out.

“I told him to go on home,” Mauch said. “No use him staying around, trying to explain something he and I don’t understand.”

Angel Notes

Filling John Candelaria’s spot on the roster could be as simple as signing Terry Forster’s name to a contract, should the Angels like what they see in today’s tryout at Anaheim Stadium. But if Forster proves to be a tub of not-so-good, the Angels may have to look within for help. General Manager Mike Port said a recall from Edmonton is his preferred option but admitted that option is a limited one. Port, on Stewart Cliburn, who struck out two in two innings for Edmonton Saturday: “He showed improvement, but he’s still not the same Stewart Cliburn we finished the season with last year. We know Stewart Cliburn can pitch in Triple-A. We want him to regain the major league sharpness he had last year. He needs a few more outings.” On Ray Chadwick, who threw a two-hit shutout in his first start: “I don’t know if he can help us right now.” On Chris Green, recently acquired from Pittsburgh: “He may be someone to consider in the not-too-distant future.”

The Angels had their regular double-play combination sidelined with minor injuries Tuesday. Shortstop Dick Schofield’s strained groin muscle kept him out of his fifth straight game, and a jammed right thumb was enough to scratch second baseman Bobby Grich from the lineup. Grich hurt the thumb Monday while tagging Steve Yeager on the front end of a double play in the sixth inning. . . . Matt Young was only 12-19 last season but, in the current issue of Sports Illustrated, both Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly call Young the toughest left-handed pitcher they faced in 1985.