Sundays in Park With Angels Are Artful : Downing’s 3-Run Homer In Ninth Gives Them 8-5 Win Over Twins

For the Angels, it was just another Sunday in the park. No matter how dark things appear, good fortune always seems to shine on them under the sun at Anaheim Stadium.

There were 58,066 on hand to witness the latest picnic as Brian Downing slugged a three-run homer in the ninth inning to carry the Angels to an 8-5 come-from-behind win over Minnesota. It was their 12th win in the last 13 Sunday games at the Big A.

And that wasn’t all the good news, either. Don Sutton, who carried the burden of a 23.14 earned-run average to the mound, went eight innings, yielding four hits and four runs.

Twins’ starter Bert Blyleven appeared to be having an even better day, though, and took a 4-1 lead into the eighth. But a one-out single by Wally Joyner, who was 3 for 5 with three runs scored and an RBI, and Doug DeCinces’ second home run of the season ended Blyleven’s complete-game aspirations.

Ron Davis, who had 25 saves last season, came in but didn’t exactly live up to his shut-’em-down status.

Davis hit Downing with a pitch, gave up a line-drive double to right-center by Reggie Jackson and then threw a wild pitch that allowed Downing to score the tying run before striking out Dick Schofield and pinch-hitter Jerry Narron.

Terry Forster, making his fourth appearance in four days as an Angel, took over in the ninth and made his first mistake. He hung a slider to former Angel Tom Brunansky, who deposited it in the left-field seats, and the Twins were back in front, 5-4.

If they had a radar gun on Forster’s glove when he flung it against the dugout wall after the inning, it would easily have been his fastest pitch of the day.

But the Angels, who have baseball’s best team batting average, showed again that they have the offensive prowess to turn defeat into victory.

Rick Burleson, who didn’t start because of a sore shoulder, pinch-hit for Gary Pettis and rapped a single to left. Then Ruppert Jones walked and Joyner tied the game with a sharp single to right. DeCinces struck out, after just missing the left-field foul line with a couple of line drives, and that brought up Downing, whose towering shot to left was about 150 feet farther than the scoring fly ball the Angels needed to win.

“I was just trying to get the ball into the outfield,” said Downing, who leads the team with 14 RBIs. “You can’t win it until you tie it.

“I wanted to get the ball in the air and I just got in front of one. As soon as I hit it, I knew where it was going to end up. That was one of the few times I’ve ever gotten goose bumps after a hit. It was a really nice feeling.”

The Cap Day crowd showed their appreciation, as did Forster, who got the win. He was one of the first Angels to get to Downing as the left fielder jumped onto home plate.

“I would’ve kissed him but there’s no telling what kind of phone calls I would’ve gotten then,” Forster said.

Manager Gene Mauch may have been as pleased with Sutton’s performance as the ninth-inning rally, though.

“Donnie pitched really well,” Mauch said. “He gave up two Sunday-afternoon-at-Anaheim-Stadium fly-ball home runs. The first (a third-inning solo shot by Kirby Puckett) was hit pretty nice, but the one to right-center (catcher Mark Salas’ three-run homer in the fourth) was enough to make a grown man cry.”

As usual, there were only smiles in the Angel clubhouse on this Sunday, though.

“This team has a lot of character and if we’re close, we’ve got the ability to come back against anyone,” DeCinces said. “When you’ve won two of three (against the Twins) and you’re facing their best starting pitcher, you have to feel really good about a win like this.”

DeCinces was wearing a T-shirt designed and distributed to the Angels by Reggie Jackson that proclaims “We’re not great, we jus’ play great.”

Reggie must have had Sunday afternoons in mind when he got the idea.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Mauch said. “There’s something special about Sunday afternoons here.”

Angel Notes Luckily for the Angels, Wally World wasn’t closed for repairs Sunday. Rookie first baseman Wally Joyner, who jammed his right ankle when he awkwardly stepped on first base running out a grounder Saturday, arrived at Anaheim Stadium at 8:30 Sunday morning, had extensive treatment, got the ankle wrapped and ran in the outfield for Manager Gene Mauch. “If he was a middle infielder, he might not have played,” Mauch said. He did, though, and had a double to left-center and two singles to right. Mauch on Joyner’s success against pitchers he’s facing for the first time: “It’s remarkable. But he figures if there’s a problem, it’s half the pitchers’.” . . . Rod Carew, in the NBC broadcast booth for an interview Saturday, was making his first appearance of the year at Anaheim Stadium. It’s no surprise, though. Carew’s parting with the Angels has been less than amicable. “All things considered, I enjoyed my seven years here,” Carew said. “But if I didn’t fit into their plans, they could have at least offered me a job in the organization. It wasn’t done properly.” Carew says his chances of signing with another club have been hurt by two false rumors that have been circulating. “One is that I’m asking for too much money and the other is that I have a bad knee and Achilles (tendon),” Carew said. He says he doesn’t know who is spreading the rumors, but “if it’s the Angels, they’re liars.” . . . Darrell Miller was filling in at catcher for the ailing Bob Boone (sprained ankle) and the Twins decided to test his arm right away. Gary Gaetti beat out a grounder to third in the second inning and then took off for second on the first pitch to the next batter, Mark Salas. Miller’s throw was right on the bag and Gaetti was out by a foot.