At Long Last, Don Sutton Wins His 296th Game, 6-2

Don Sutton was at it again Wednesday night at Anaheim Stadium, trying hard to keep the Angels atop the American League Western Division, earn his first victory since September 1985, pick up career win No. 296 and end a five-game losing streak. And not necessarily in that order.

This time there was joy and happiness as the Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-2, putting to an end, at least temporarily, prolonged agony for Sutton.

“It’s nice to get off that one,” Sutton said. “Any win is sweet, but when you’ve had five starts with no wins, then it’s a lot sweeter.

“I’m basically an optimist, but it was getting harder and harder,” said Sutton, who even abandoned his usual postgame glass of wine for a cup of beer.

“Bob Boone suggested we might switch away from the Chardonnay tonight,” he said. “It hasn’t worked this year thus far.”

Sutton did stick with his usual game-day preparation: “Two bean burritos and a nap.”

An audience of 24,895 watched Sutton allow little damage in the early innings, yet he trailed, 1-0, after the first. Into his mind, he said, popped here we go again .

“Those exact words,” he said, “but they kind of passed through there rapidly.”

Sutton struck out the first two batters he faced and then watched Willie Upshaw cue a double past Rick Burleson, who was playing third base for only the second time this season. Upshaw stayed at second for only a few moments as George Bell singled to center, scoring Upshaw.

From then on, it was the Sutton of old--not the sour stuff a 0-3 record and a 9.12 earned-run average represented at game’s beginning, but lazy pop flies, a handful of strikeouts and a single here and there.

“What has happened in the past is that I’ve put us out of reach early or I’ve stayed out there maybe too long and put us out of reach in the seventh,” Sutton said.

Still, the Angels were having difficulties with Blue Jay starter Jim Clancy, who allowed just two hits during the first four innings. And when they did have runners in scoring position, as in the first, third and fourth innnings, the Angels found ways to end the potential rallies.

Manager Gene Mauch began the evening with third baseman Doug DeCinces, center fielder Gary Pettis, second baseman Bobby Grich and left fielder Brian Downing all missing from the lineup because of assorted injuries. Reggie Jackson--surprise, surprise--was in right field, George Hendrick in center and Ruppert Jones in left. Reserve catcher Jerry Narron was the designated hitter.

But wouldn’t you know it that Jackson threw out Upshaw in the third inning trying to stretch a single into a double. Later, he made a nice catch at the fence of a Jesse Barfield fly ball. A throwing error in the sixth that allowed Bell to turn a double into a trip to third took some of the glow off the evening. But Bell never scored, and Jackson was off the hook.

Jackson wasn’t so fortunate later.

Meanwhile, the Angels had started to whittle away at Clancy. They scored two runs in the fifth and took the lead on a bases-loaded single by Wally Joyner. It was a good thing, too, since Joyner had left men in scoring position in the first and third innings.

The two-run single gave Joyner 22 runs batted in, which tied him for the team lead and placed him among the league leaders.

The Angels scored again in the sixth as Rob Wilfong, taking Grich’s place in the lineup, hit his first home run in his last 141 at-bats. Wilfong hadn’t homered since July 8, 1985.

Sutton retired to the dugout after the sixth inning. He had thrown 96 pitches and allowed six hits, no walks and struck out five Blue Jay batters. “I don’t ever intend to see him make over 100 pitches again,” said Mauch, referring to past Sutton problems.

Only once was Sutton lectured by Boone, who, after several long fly balls, told him, “You realize, you’ve gotten away with three mistakes this inning.”

Reliever Doug Corbett, who has pitched well in recent outings, replaced Sutton. He then watched in horror as Jackson attempted a diving, shoetop catch of a Cliff Johnson line drive. The ball bounced under his glove, and Johnson had a triple of questionable nature.

One batter later, pinch-hitter Rick Leach hit a sacrifice fly that scored Johnson and narrowed the gap, 3-2.

That didn’t last long. The Angels scored three more runs in the seventh as Wilfong singled off reliever Dennis Lamp, scoring Joyner. Hendrick followed with another single, this time scoring Darrell Miller, a pinch-runner for Jackson, who, too, had singled. On and on it went: Narron knocked in Wilfong with a single, making it five consecutive singles for the Angels.

Sutton had his first win of 1986, and Corbett had his second save in as many days.

“That was vintage Don Sutton out there,” Corbett said. “Every victory is a team victory, but after this one was over, it was special for Donnie. I was glad to see him get out of the sinkhole.”

Angel Notes Gary Pettis (knee), Brian Downing (knee), Doug DeCinces (back) and Bobby Grich (thumb) were missing from Wednesday night’s starting lineup. Pettis and Downing, victims of two outfield collisions during the recent trip, are nursing assorted bruises and cuts. Pettis said he had never collided with another outfielder until Saturday’s game in Milwaukee. Now, he limps about the Angel clubhouse. He said his playing status is day-to-day, though team physician Dr. Lewis Yocum said Pettis might play by this weekend. “Pettis is going to miss a little time,” Manager Gene Mauch said. Downing’s condition is considered less serious and he’ll be ready to play today. “But he can just about walk now,” Mauch said, adding that “there’s a pretty good chance” Downing would be back in left field for tonight’s game against Toronto. As for Grich, he was scheduled to have his jammed right thumb examined Wednesday. “The doctor is going to say, ‘You’ve got a strained ligament, let’s take it day-to-day. This is a recording,’ ” Grich said. Yocum said the thumb could be sufficiently healed in the next several days. DeCinces also is expected back in the lineup tonight. . . . Reliever Gary Lucas, who is recovering from a back injury, will throw again today. Lucas has been receiving acupuncture treatments for about a week and also received a cortisone shot Wednesday. “I seem to get some relief from (the acupuncture),” he said. Lucas tested his arm and back “six or seven times” during the recent Angel trip. “Only one time was the pain severe enough where we had to back off a couple of days,” he said.