Angels Absorb 7-3 Loss in the Rainy City

The Angels waited an extra 40 minutes for the start of Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox. And for what? Thick, black clouds dumped rain on Comiskey Park and then departed, soon followed by the White Sox, who drenched Ron Romanick and the Angels, 7-3.

Had they known, the Angels might have wished for the thundershowers to remain. But they didn’t and were forced to watch Romanick lose his third game in his last four starts. Romanick has a 5.31 earned-run average during that period, which tends to put a damper on any dash for first place in the AL West.

Romanick (3-4) can’t be blamed for all of the Angel troubles, though a three-run first inning by the White Sox didn’t help matters. The normally reliable Angel infield appeared sluggish, and any ball hit to the outfield was an adventure, what with the earlier downpour. “Standing water . . . a couple of inches,” left fielder Brian Downing said.

Downing was excused from the game with a strained left ankle in the fifth inning. Romanick made an earlier exit, leaving after 4 innings. By then, he had allowed five runs, all earned, and seven hits. The only thing strained was his tolerance for watching the White Sox begin the first inning with three consecutive hits, including a two-run triple by Harold Baines that splashed to a stop in deep left-center field. Baines scored moments later when Greg Walker grounded to second.

After the outburst, Romanick retired 10 of the next 11 batters. But then came the fifth inning, and Tim Hulett doubled, Ozzie Guillen singled, and two outs later Carlton Fisk singled to extend the White Sox lead to 5-0. In came rookie Chuck Finley, out went Romanick.

“(Romanick) wasn’t real good, but we didn’t catch quite enough balls behind him,” Manager Gene Mauch said. “You have to play good defense behind Romanick, and he has to pitch with pinpoint control.”

The fifth inning is a nice example of what Mauch meant. Just when it seems that Romanick might sneak away from this mess, Fisk singles to center. Hulett scores, but Guillen misses third base on his turn and has to come back, touch the bag and then begin his sprint toward home plate again.

Meanwhile, Gary Pettis has retrieved the ball and sent it to cutoff man Bobby Grich. Shortstop Dick Schofield is standing nearby. Grich gets the throw but isn’t aware of Guillen’s miss. Too late. Guillen slides home, and Grich and Schofield are left with arms outstretched, shoulders shrugging.

The Angels (28-29) did what they could to make the game interesting. They scored two runs in the sixth when Ruppert Jones tripled to begin the inning and George Hendrick, batting in place of the injured Downing, grounded to third, scoring Jones. Reggie Jackson grounded out to short, then Doug DeCinces doubled and came home on a double down the right-field line by Wally Joyner. White Sox starter Neil Allen was then pulled in favor of reliever Gene Nelson.

Waiting to hit was Grich, who entered the game with a .692 batting average (9 for 13) against Nelson. Mauch must have been dancing on the statistics sheet when Nelson arrived.

But Grich grounded to short to end the rally.

“No theories are worth a damn unless they work,” Mauch said.

The Angels added another run in the seventh as Schofield doubled and scored one out later on Pettis’ double. And the Angels had reasonable chances in the eighth for more runs (bases loaded, two outs), but couldn’t convert chances into scores.

“We can’t keep playing this way, needless to say,” Downing said.

Tuesday night’s loss means that the Angels are 7-12 during their last 19 games. “I’m ready to win more regularly than we’re doing,” Mauch said.

Mauch said he wasn’t prepared to outline the Angels’ specific troubles. “If you really thought about it, you wouldn’t have to ask,” he said.

Begin with the starting pitching, which has been inconsistent for most of the season. One day a two-hit shutout by Don Sutton, the next day a disappointing performance by Romanick.

But the starters have company. The Angel bullpen has nothing to write home about. Can’t even send a note. In their last 18 appearances and 39 innings, Angel relievers have allowed 43 runs, which figures out to a 9.92 earned-run average. “We could turn it around in the next 18 games and have a zero ERA,” reliever Terry Forster said.

Then there is the Angel offense, which is struggling to regain its earlier-season form when hits and runs came easily. Mauch still can’t find a consistent leadoff man, and Bob Boone, DeCinces, Jones and Pettis are all hitting below .250.

“We’re just in a lull period,” Downing said. “Many of us are second-half players. That’s the silver lining I’m looking at.

“Right now, we’ve got our singles offense going and that’s not going to make it,” he said. “Like we were saying at the beginning of the year: Hitting is contagious. We’ll hang tough.”

Or get drenched.

Angel Notes

General Manager Mike Port said he talked to several teams Tuesday about acquiring a pitcher. “Nothing substantive to report,” Port said, adding that he didn’t expect anything to happen today, either. Port did confirm that he has contacted the Pittsburgh Pirates, presumably about starter Rick Rhoden, but hasn’t had a reply from Pirate General Manager Syd Thrift. Can a deal be made? “I don’t think any deal at this point is impossible,” he said. Because of possible charges of tampering, Port said he is unable to name specific names, but “good pitching is something we’re always interested in investigating and pursuing.” . . . If Don Sutton should win his 300th game Saturday at Anaheim Stadium, it would mark the second pitcher that Bob Boone has caught with 300 or more victories. Boone, before coming to the Angels in 1982, was on the Philadelphia Phillies with Steve Carlton. . . . Now that Rod Carew has officially retired, Port said the Angels will contact him about a possible Rod Carew Day at Anaheim Stadium. Port said the Angels couldn’t consider such a day until an official retirement announcement was made. “In the wide range of things, personally, if Rod were agreeable, I’d like to see it,” Port said.