Brewers, 5-0 Against Angels, Rely on Rookies for a 4-2 Win

With that freak outburst of the previous evening--16 runs, 18 hits--out of their systems, the Milwaukee Brewers shifted back into normal operating procedures Saturday night.

They hit a little.

They scored a little.

They relied on rookies.

And they beat the Angels.

For the Brewers, that last feat is becoming as common as pulling on their blue-and-gold uniforms. For the fifth time in five meetings, Milwaukee downed the Angels, 4-2, before an Anheim Stadium crowd of 35,371.

This is the same Brewer team that finished 28 games out of first place in the American League East in 1985, going 3-9 against the Angels.

Actually, for accuracy’s sake, this isn’t the same Brewer team. The ’85 Brewers didn’t have Juan Nieves in their starting rotation, Dan Plesac in their bullpen and Billy Jo Robidoux at first base.

The rookies have made a difference.

Nieves, a 21-year-old left-hander who beat the Angels for his first major league victory last weekend, won his third straight by pitching six innings Saturday, limiting the Angels to two runs on three hits.

Plesac, a 24-year-old right- hander, earned his third major league save by working the final three innings, allowing two hits but no runner to advance beyond second base.

And Robidoux, a 22-year-old with 51 big league at-bats before this year, showed the Angels that Wally Joyner isn’t the only rookie first baseman in the American League worth watching. Robidoux’s two-run double in the sixth inning gave Milwaukee a 3-2 lead and accounted for his third game-winning hit of the season.

That hit, plus an RBI single by Ben Oglivie and a run-scoring double by Charlie Moore, were enough to ruin an admirable effort by Angel starting pitcher Mike Witt. Witt (2-3) went all nine innings, completing an eight-hitter while striking out six.

But it went for naught as the Angels lost their third straight and seventh in their last nine. Still, because the Oakland A’s lost again, the Angels and the A’s remained tied atop the AL West standings at 16-15.

Milwaukee, meanwhile, won for the seventh time in nine games, improving its record to 16-12. The Brewers remained three games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East.

For the moment, the kids are all right.

“There are times when I really like those young people,” Milwaukee Manager George Bamberger said.

And in the other clubhouse, the Angels’ Gene Mauch has just about had his fill of them.

“They’re an improved team, playing much better,” Mauch said. “But if anyone would’ve told me two weeks ago they’d beat us two series in a row, I would’ve told him he was crazy.”

Today, the Angels try to avoid the dubious double of getting swept twice in a week by the same team. Jim Slaton gets the call, facing yet another Brewer rookie, Bill Wegman.

Witt pitched well enough to snap the streak but was undermined by Robidoux and a dreaded name from the Angels’ past--that man Cooper.

Cecil Cooper, a leading figure in the Angels’ pantheon of all-time enemies, submitted another page or two to his file against Witt. He singled in the fourth inning, walked in the sixth and scored both of the Brewers’ first two runs. The way Cooper hits California pitching, you’d think the Angels once traded him.

Cooper led off the fourth with a single to center and took second base when Robin Yount singled to right. A double-play grounder by Robidoux moved Cooper to third, and from there he scored on a single by Ben Oglivie.

Cooper’s one-out walk in the sixth led to a two-run inning for Milwaukee. Yount followed with another single, and Robidoux delivered his double into the right-field corner, driving in both runners for a 3-2 advantage.

The Angels had scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to give Witt a temporary lead.

Wally Joyner walked to open the fourth, advanced to third on Doug DeCinces’ single and came home on a sacrifice fly to right by George Hendrick. In the fifth, Bob Boone walked, took second on a ground-out and scored on Rick Burleson’s line-drive double to left.

But that would be all for the Angels, who left runners stranded in socring position in both the seventh and eighth innings and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth.

When Nieves walked Dick Schofield to open the seventh inning, Bamberger called on Plesac from the bullpen. After Boone sacrificed Schofield to second, Plesac got Darrell Miller to ground to second and Burleson to fly to right.

In the eighth, Plesac surrendered a two-out double to Doug DeCinces but left him at second by striking out George Hendrick.

And in the ninth, Plesac allowed his second hit, a leadoff single by Bobby Grich. But Plesac induced the next two batters, Schofield and Boone, to pop up, before facing pinch-hitter Reggie Jackson, who represented the tying run.

Jackson has been struggling through a 3-for-30 slump, and Plesac didn’t help matters. He got Jackson to fly harmlessly to center field, keeping the Brewers perfect in games with the Angels in 1986.

Angel Notes

Bobby Grich was back in the starting lineup, hoping a change of bats would ease the pain in his right thumb. “I’m going with a bigger-barreled bat,” he said. “It absorbs most of the shock.” Grich said he borrowed the bat from Wally Joyner. “You might as well go with what’s hot,” he said. . . . Pitcher John Candelaria played long-toss on the sidelines for the second time Saturday. The initial phase of Candelaria’s rehabilitative program is to play catch every other day. He threw for 12 minutes and reported no pain. . . . Gary Pettis comes off suspension today, but Mauch doubted his centerfielder would be ready to play. “I’ve seen him do everything except run,” Mauch said. “I’ve seen him trot, I’ve seen him take balls off the bat of (coach) Jimmie Reese. But I haven’t seen him run. And he likes to run.” . . . The Brewers have found that playing the Angels can be hazardous to their health. Already, Milwaukee has lost two players to hamstring injuries in games with California. Outfielder Mike Felder wound up on the disabled list after hurting his leg while chasing a double by Brian Downing May 2. And third baseman Paul Molitor was out of the lineup Saturday after straining his right hamstring during the third inning of Friday night’s game.