Witt Keeps to Familiar Pattern : Angel Pitcher Again Has Rough Start but Ends With Flourish

After writing Mike Witt’s name on the lineup card, Angel Manager Gene Mauch figures he can sit back and forget about who’s in his bullpen until at least the seventh or eighth inning.

After all, Witt has pitched into the seventh in 15 of his 16 starts this season and 42 of 51 in his career.

But the big right-hander has had his manager squirming in the early innnings lately, uncharacteristically giving up bunches of runs before anyone’s had time to break a sweat. In his two most recent starts before Wednesday, Witt gave up a three-run homer to Cleveland’s Mel Hall in the first and a three-run shot by Kansas City’s Steve Balboni in the second.

Wednesday night in Anaheim Stadium was no exception. The White Sox scored three in the first and Mauch was the first guy in the place to start sweating. But Chicago’s batters weren’t heard from again as Witt got stronger as the game progressed and ended up going nine innings in a 4-3 victory.

Teammates Don Sutton and Kirk McCaskill always pitch a simulated inning in the bullpen before taking the mound. Witt might start thinking about doing the same thing.

The first was an inning he wished he could have left in the bullpen Wednesday.

White Sox leadoff batter John Cangelosi made an out, but only because Gary Pettis got a great jump and made a fine running catch of his line drive to left-center.

So much for the good luck.

No. 2 hitter Ozzie Guillen slapped a single to right and then Witt walked Harold Baines. That brought on Greg Walker, who deposited a 2-2 pitch over the fence in center.

Witt watched the ball sail out from a squatting position halfway down the mound and it took him a few seconds to bring his 6-foot, 7-inch frame back to an upright position.

“I don’t know what it is,” Witt said later. “I think maybe I’m trying too hard to make the perfect pitch in the first couple of innings.

“It makes you pretty mad to give up a three-run lead like that. I just told myself I had good stuff and to go right after them.”

His stuff was good enough to strike out a season-high 11 batters, seven of which went down looking. The White Sox had five hits, but didn’t get one after the third inning.

“Mike just took charge of the game,” Mauch said.

But Mauch didn’t have any clues to solving Witt’s early-inning woes.

“I’m surprised when anything goes wrong when he’s on the mound,” Mauch said. “He’s been around here long enough and showed me enough. I expect him to be just about flawless. . . . I know he won’t but I still expect him to be.”

Those are great expectations, to be sure, but Witt’s consistency has been remarkable. He leads the league in innings pitched (135), complete games (8) and is second in strikeouts with 111. More importantly, in his 51 career starts, he has held opponents to three runs or less 36 times. He’s 9-6 on the year and his earned-run average is 3.27.

“I felt like I got in the groove about the fourth,” Witt said. “I hate to give up a big three-spot like that, though. I go out there wanting to pitch nine and give up less than three runs and then I figure we’ll win.

“You don’t ever want to get used to that (falling behind), but it did jump in my mind (after Walker’s homer) that if I shut them out the rest of the way, we should be able to win.”

The Angels scored four times in the bottom of the first--thanks to Reggie Jackson’s bases-loaded triple and an ensuing sacrifice fly by Doug DeCinces--so both Witt and Mauch were breathing a bit easier before the Big A lights had even taken effect.

“Really, the story of this ball game was Mike Witt,” Jackson said. “He’s been struggling early, but he doesn’t give in. When he finally got his good curveball, he pitched a great game.”

Maybe Mauch should consider using a relief pitcher for just the first inning and Witt may never allow another run.