Sutton’s Bid for 300 Turns to Goo : Forster Loses Lead in Relief, but Angels Win

The television cameras were poised, and the chardonnay was on ice. But history was put on hold Saturday at Anaheim Stadium.

Don Sutton, in pursuit of career win No. 300, left the game with a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning. There wasn’t much time for suspense, though. Three Terry Forster pitches later, Sutton was still one game short of the milestone reached by just 18 other pitchers.

It was an emotional roller-coaster of a game that included five home runs, four Kansas City errors, some questionable calls by the umpires and the ejection of Royal Manager Dick Howser.

The Angels, by the way, won, 6-5, when Royal center fielder Willie Wilson came up inches short of stealing a home run from Doug DeCinces in the eighth. That homer to left-center brought on another standing ovation from the crowd of 40,005, but it didn’t match the cheering that went to the departing Sutton an inning earlier.

With one out in the seventh, Sutton walked Wilson and then hit Lonnie Smith with a pitch. His first two pitches to Rudy Law were balls, and that brought on Manager Gene Mauch . . . and a chorus of boos, of course.

“When a guy gets tired, the first thing that suffers is his control,” Mauch said. “He didn’t want to hit Smith, and then when he went 2-and-0 to Law he was, in my mind, tired to the point where he needed some help.”

Mauch had signaled for Forster before he reached the mound, setting up a bit of irony: Former Dodger Forster, in relief of former Dodger teammate Sutton, facing former Dodger teammate Law. Forster fired two strikes past Law, but the Royal right fielder got all of the third delivery and ripped a single through the hole into right, scoring Wilson and putting Sutton at least six more days away from membership in pitching’s most elite club.

“Basically, I got what I deserved,” Sutton said. “Fortunately, I didn’t pitch poorly enough to keep us from winning. Individual accomplishments come in the framework of team accomplishments. We won. And I’ll get my 300.”

Sutton’s philosophical approach was balanced by Forster’s more emotional response.

“I was in the situation where I wanted to be,” he said. “No. 1, because I’ve done it all my life, and No. 2, because I’d do anything for Sutton. I would have given my left arm to be able to finish it. It would have been one of the biggest thrills of my career.

“I can’t help feeling like I (bleeped) it up . . . but I won’t the next time. If I do, I’ll tackle someone before they can score.”

Forster could have played middle linebacker in the first inning. Smith doubled and scored on George Brett’s single to put the Royals ahead, 1-0. But three of the first four Angel batters also crossed the plate, sending a wave of optimism through the crowd that this might be Sutton’s day.

The operative word here is “day,” though. No lead is safe under the sun in Anaheim Stadium.

Leadoff hitter Ruppert Jones singled to right and Wally Joyner followed with a home run to right, raising his major league-leading homer total to 19. Six of Joyner’s last 12 hits in the Big A have been homers.

One out later, Reggie Jackson walked and then scored on Rob Wilfong’s two-out double. Royal starter Dennis Leonard, who left in the seventh with a season-high 10 strikeouts, ended up striking out the side in the first. But he was also trailing, 3-1.

The Angels added another run in the second on Jones’ fifth homer of the season, an opposite-field fly ball.

Then the Royals tied it with three in the third, including a leadoff homer to right by Buddy Biancalana (his first of the year and fourth of his career), Smith’s homer to left (his second this year) and Jorge Orta’s RBI single.

“It was a good day to hit,” Mauch understated. “Day games in Anaheim are fun . . . for hitters, anyway.”

Howser, meanwhile, wasn’t having all that much fun.

Umpire Rick Reed had to fly home for family reasons, and the three umpires who were left to work the game had their hands full. Rich Garcia, the plate umpire, and Dale Ford and Greg Kosc, who worked the basepaths, were all involved in controversies.

In the third inning, Kosc seemed to make a premature safe signal as Jackson slid into second with a double, although it appeared on television replays that Jackson slid into Biancalana’s tag. In the fifth, with runners on first and second, Jackson lined a shot to right-center, where Wilson appeared to make a diving catch. Ford ruled that Wilson had trapped the ball.

Howser, who argued vehemently on both occasions, finally was ejected by Garcia in the seventh. Jones claimed that a Leonard pitch hit him in the foot, and Garcia, after checking the ball for red shoe polish, awarded Jones first base. Howser came rushing out of the dugout and got his wish after telling Garcia, “I’ve been out here yelling all day, I’ve gotta go.”

Said Howser after closing the Royal clubhouse to the media for 15 minutes after the game: “They did seem like three pretty bad calls, but they were short-handed and they were at least in position. They’re doing the best they can, but every now and then the umpires will cost you a game.”

Replays of Wilson’s diving try were inconclusive, but Joyner definitely scored from second on the play, tying the game, 5-5.

There was even a moment of doubt--in DeCinces’ mind, anyway--when Wilson leaped against the wall trying to catch his high fly that turned out to be the game-winner.

“The way I’ve been going, I figured Wilson would lay there for a while, then throw it in,” DeCinces said. “I would’ve much rather had that three-runner stay fair for Donnie, though.”

With two on in the fifth, DeCinces hit a drive that hooked away from the left-field foul pole. A few feet in the other direction and Sutton might have been sipping his wine and tasting the fruits of 300 victories.

“Sutton will get his 300,” Howser said. “I just hope it’s not next Friday in Kansas City.”

Angel Notes Don Sutton’s postgame press conference had broken up, and Terry Forster was still blaming himself because it wasn’t a 300th-victory celebration. Forster, who gave up a seventh-inning single to Rudy Law that tied the game, kept going over what had gone wrong. “My first pitch was a fastball for a strike,” he said. “My second was a harder fastball for a strike. I told myself, ‘Now, I’m gonna show him my best fastball.’ Maybe I was too pumped up. Instead of getting it low and away, I got it up where he can hit it. I’ve been around too long to make a stupid mistake like that. Not to take anything away from Rudy Law, but that’s the only pitch he can hit off me.” . . . Bob Boone, who was behind the plate for the 1,722nd time Saturday to take sole possession of seventh place on the all-time list, said he thought Sutton pitched well enough to win. “He wasn’t as good as the last two times out,” said Boone, referring to Sutton’s 2-0 record and 1.06 earned-run average in June before Saturday. “He didn’t have the (good) curveball. But I thought he pitched pretty well.” . . . First baseman Wally Joyner, whose defensive play has impressed his teammates as much as his hitting, made another gem Saturday to throw out Lonnie Smith at the plate in the seventh. George Brett hit a little roller that Joyner barehanded before throwing a strike to Boone. “You don’t look for George Brett to top the ball, but I fielded it cleanly and made a perfect throw,” Joyner said. Royal Manager Dick Howser thought Smith helped. “Lonnie must have thought the ball was foul because he came to a complete stop before trying to score,” Howser grumbled. . . . Reggie Jackson’s double to right in the third extended his batting streak to six games. His average, .316, has not dropped below .300 this season.