Reggie Does Foxx Trot With 534th : Homer Helps Angels Win, 6-5, Ties Him for Seventh Place

The Angels’ version of The Great Chase was on display at Anaheim Stadium Friday night.

Reggie Jackson tied Jimmie Foxx and started to chase Mickey Mantle on the all-time home-run list, Wally Joyner continued to chase bad pitches and hit home runs anyway and the Angels managed to chase Twins’ starter Mike Smithson, the first time that’s happened to the pitcher in three starts this season.

The result was a 6-5 Angel win over Minnesota, but it was a long way from easy. The Angels collected 13 hits, but the Twins had 10 and either threatened or scored in most of the last five innings.

The two biggest--and longest--hits came in the first few minutes of the leisurely paced affair, though.

Jackson and Joyner hit back-to-back home runs with one out in the first inning. Jackson’s homer was his fourth of the year and No. 534 in his career, tying him with Foxx for seventh on the all-time list. He’s two short of catching Mantle.

The Angel coaching staff would like to see Joyner exhibit a little more paitence at the plate, but they don’t want to mess with the aggressive rookie’s swing. His third homer of the year was a drive deep to left-center.

Smithson completed his first two starts of 1986 and his last game of 1985, but the big right-hander got off to a shaky start Friday night. Joyner, the second Angel batter, drove a 2-and-0 pitch over the fence in left-center, and Jackson followed with a line drive into the seats in right.

Joyner and Jackson both had chances to put Smithson--and maybe the game--away in the second but came away shaking their heads in disgust.

Bob Boone walked, Gary Pettis singled to right and Ruppert Jones walked to load the bases with no outs. But Joyner struck out on a feeble half-swing, and Reggie, who seldom gets cheated, went down with a big swing. Brian Downing flied to left to end the threat.

The Angels increased their lead to 3-0 in the third when Boone drove in his 200th run as an Angel, this one on a single to right following Burleson’s two-out double. Burleson has at least one hit in eight of his first 10 games.

Witt, who gave up a pair of singles in the second inning but got out of it when Burleson made a nice stop behind second to start a double play, looked as if he was beginning to fall into a groove. He retired seven straight, three on strikeouts, before Mark Salas reached on an error when Joyner dropped his line drive to first with one out in the fifth.

Gary Gaetti, who has gone hitless just once this year, followed with a single to left, and after Steve Lombardozzi flied to center, Greg Gagne singled to load the bases. Then Kirby Puckett lined a single to center to drive in two unearned runs and cut the Angel lead to one.

Witt continued to struggle in the sixth, yielding a pair of walks, but the Angels’ third double play and Witt’s fifth strikeout got him out of that jam.

The Angels increased the margin to two in the bottom of the inning, and Jackson moved into the 17th spot on the all-time RBI standings when he drove in No. 1,610 with a two-out line drive off left-hander Pete Filson, who relieved Smithson with one on and one out.

The Twins chased Witt in the seventh when the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters--Lombardozzi and Gagne--opened the inning with singles. Ken Forsch replaced Witt and gave up a one-run single to Puckett, who got his third RBI of the night. Then Manager Gene Mauch went for his newest relief pitcher, Terry Forster, who on his second pitch got pinch-hitter Alex Sanchez to hit into a double play.

Jackson’s RBI single and Downings ground ball to short that scored Jones gave the Angels a pair of what appeared to be cushion runs in the eighth. But Puckett hit his two-run homer in the ninth, and the Twins weren’t out of the chase until Moore struck out Alex Sanchez for the final out.

Angel Notes

Ruppert Jones became Manager Gene Mauch’s fourth leadoff hitter in 11 games when he was penciled into the No. 1 spot Friday night. Gary Pettis, Bobby Grich and Rick Burleson have also led off. Mauch was asked why Pettis, who had four hits in his last eight times at bats before Friday, wasn’t at the top of the order. “His speed isn’t any good if he doesn’t get on base,” Mauch said. Does Pettis have a problem against Twin starter Mike Smithson? “He’s faced him 18 times in his life and has struck out 10 times--if you call that a problem,” Mauch said. Jones, who led off often when he was with Seattle in the late ‘70s, was hitting just .176 before Friday, but he had walked five times and scored six runs. . . . Angel owner Gene Autry made a visit to the dugout during batting practice and asked Mauch how he was doing. “Pretty good,” Mauch said, before adding, “but I’d be doing a lot better if we could beat a left-hander.” The Angels are 1-3 against left-handers this season, but Mauch says part of the problem has been the Angel pitching. “In three of those games, we haven’t held the opposition down at all,” he said. . . . For those who were still wondering about the rumors that newly acquired relief pitcher Terry Forster had lost his fastball: He threw six pitches Thursday night--all fastballs--and all six registered either 89 or 90 m.p.h. on the Angel radar gun. . . . Twin Manager Ray Miller, who was pitching coach for the Baltimore Orioles for seven years before he got the Minnesota job last year, thinks attitude is almost as important as a big-league fastball in a relief pitcher. “When I go to the pen,” he said, “I want to see those doors come flyin’ open and my pitcher stormin’ out to the mound.” . . . Angel batting instructor Moose Stubing was standing behind the cage during batting practice, admiring rookie Wally Joyner’s swing. “He doesn’t have any flaws,” Stubing said, “Well, his flaw right now is (a lack of) patience. But he’s young and hasn’t seen the pitchers enough to get to know their patterns. When he does, he’ll be more patient.” The “impatient” Joyner came into Friday night’s game with a .308 average and 13 hits, tied for second in the American League with Minnesota’s Roy Smalley. In the first inning, he took two balls from Smithson before depositing the third pitch in the seats in left-center for his third home run of the year.

ALL-TIME CAREER HOME RUN LIST

500 OR MORE HOME RUNS

HR PLAYER HR/AB 755 Henry Aaron 16.3 714 Babe Ruth 11.7 660 Willie Mays 16.4 586 Frank Robinson 17.0 573 Harmon Killebrew 14.2 536 Mickey Mantle 15.1 534 Jimmie Foxx 15.2 534 Reggie Jackson 17.0 521 Willie McCovey 15.7 521 Ted Williams 14.7 512 Ernie Banks 18.4 512 Eddie Mathews 16.6 511 Mel Ott 18.5