Jones’ Two Homers Help ‘Candy’ Post a Sweet Win No. 3

The Toronto Blue Jays may lead the majors in run production, but they’re no match for the Angels when John Candelaria is pitching.

Sure, the big left-hander has pitched impressively in each of his three starts since coming back from elbow surgery. But with the kind of support he’s getting, he could have an earned-run average in double figures and still be 3-0.

The Angels have averaged 11-plus runs and 14 hits a game in Candelaria’s three starts after coming off the disabled list. Saturday at Anaheim Stadium, Candelaria had a 1-0 lead before Toronto starter Dave Stieb threw his second pitch. And by the time Candelaria walked out to the mound to pitch the third inning, he was working with a four-run advantage.

Leadoff hitter Ruppert Jones provided enough offense by himself, hitting a solo home run in the first inning and a three-run homer in the seventh, as the Angels rolled over the Blue Jays, 9-3, and increased their American League West lead to 2 1/2 games over the Texas Rangers.

Jones was not the whole show before the crowd of 30,577. Everybody in an Angel uniform is a member of the Welcome Back Candy Committee these days.

There were three singles by Wally Joyner, two by Gary Pettis, a triple by Reggie Jackson and sacrifice flies by Bob Boone and Rob Wilfong. In fact, for Candelaria, Jones and Brian Downing were even willing to sacrifice their bodies; both were hit by pitches and ended up scoring.

“I’ve got to get on these guys,” Candelaria said. “They didn’t even get 10 (runs). They’re slipping.”

Mauch is more impressed with Candelaria’s recovery than with the Angels’ tendency to wear out the basepaths when Candelaria is on the mound.

“It’s nice for any pitcher to get runs,” Mauch said. “But I don’t think it’s necessarily been much of a factor. He’s thrown nothing but zeroes up on the scoreboard until today.”

Candelaria, making his first appearance at Anaheim Stadium since Sept. 24 of last year, went 5 innings, struck out 5, walked 1 and allowed 4 hits and 2 runs. Since his return, he has pitched 15 innings, given up 11 hits, walked 6, struck out 14 and has an earned-run average of 1.15.

“I’m sort of surprised I’m throwing this well,” Candelaria said. “I still think there’s room for improvement, though. I’d like to build the stamina to go eight.”

“All those runs are nice because I’m not sure how strong I’ll be. So I just try to throw strikes and get ahead of the hitters.”

The usually potent Blue Jay offense could be summed up in two words: George Bell. The Toronto left fielder crushed two home runs to left field--a towering, two-run blast in the fourth inning and a solo shot in the ninth.

“He scraped that first one off the ground off Candy,” Mauch said.

Bell is a low-ball hitter, but if that pitch was a mistake, it was one of the few that Candelaria made. He threw 80 pitches and then left after striking out Lloyd Moseby, leading off the sixth.

“We told him to get Moseby out and that would be a good day’s work,” Mauch said.

The Angel offense was still on the job, however. In the seventh, after Downing was hit by a pitch and Rick Burleson singled to center, Jones hit his 11th homer of the season and second of the game, this one off Blue Jay reliever Bill Caudill. Jones’ first homer, in the first inning, was his third home run leading off a game this season.

“The win’s more important than any personal accomplishments,” Jones said. “I’ve been leading off the last month and a half, and I’m getting used to it. For a while, I was taking a pitch or falling behind 0-2, but when a guy’s around the plate, you might want to swing at the first pitch.”

Stieb has been around the plate this season, but his pitches keep ending up bouncing around the park--or in the bleachers. He led the league in ERA last year (2.48), but he’s up to 5.78 this season and is 2-10 after Saturday’s loss.

He didn’t get any help from his defense, either. The Blue Jay infield made it hard to tell if the game was baseball or croquet in the second inning.

After Pettis’ one-out single, Boone hit a roller that went right through the legs of third baseman Garth Iorg. Then a Stieb fastball grazed Jones’ stomach, and the bases were loaded.

Wicket No. 2 did the most damage, however. Wilfong hit a grounder to first that appeared to be an inning-ending double play--that is, until Willie Upshaw bent over and watched it go between his legs and into right field.

Pettis and Boone scored. Joyner then grounded a single into the hole--this time between infielders, not legs--to bring home Jones with the third unearned run of the inning, and the Angels led, 4-0.

Candelaria, helped by a double play in the first, faced just nine Blue Jays in the first three innings, but his second time through the Toronto lineup was a little less impressive.

Tony Fernandez led off the fourth with a double off the wall in left-center, and two outs later, Bell slammed a home run to cut the Blue Jay deficit in half.

But the hit parade was far from over for the Angels. They scored a run in the bottom of the fourth and one in the fifth before Jones blew open the game in the seventh.

Vern Ruhle, making his first appearance for the Angels, and Donnie Moore yielded just three hits after Candelaria left.

If the Angels continue to provide Candelaria with this kind of support, Mauch might consider starting him every other day and then pulling him in the fourth, when the Angels are five or six runs ahead.

Angel Notes Vern Ruhle, who relieved John Candelaria in the sixth inning, pitched 1 innings and allowed one hit. It was Ruhle’s first appearance in the majors since Oct. 6, 1985, when he pitched for the Cleveland Indians against the Minnesota Twins. Ruhle, 35, is a veteran of 12 major league seasons. “I was more than a little bit impressed,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “He changed speeds on his fastball the way I remember he used to, had a nice breaking ball and good control.” . . . Left-hander John Cerutti, who was scheduled to start for the Blue Jays in today’s series finale, returned home to Toronto Saturday to be with his wife, Claudia, who is expecting their first child. Right-hander Joe Johnson, acquired from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for pitcher Jim Acker, will make his second start for Toronto since joining the club July 6. Johnson, who does not have a decision with the Blue Jays, was 6-7 with a 4.97 earned-run average with the Braves this season. Toronto reliever Tom Henke, who leads the club with 14 saves, is still at home in Jefferson City, Mo., with his wife, awaiting the birth of their third child. . . . Wally Joyner extended his hitting streak to 11 games with three singles Saturday. Joyner, whose average is up to .322, has 38 multiple-hit games and 14 three-hit games. “And he was half-sick the second half of the game,” Mauch said. “I think the smog was chewing on him. If he smoked as many cigarettes as I do, that stuff wouldn’t bother him.” . . . Gary Pettis stole second base in the second inning and again in the fourth Saturday, giving him 23 for the season and 135 in his career. Four more steals and he’ll tie Sandy Alomar for the No. 1 spot on the Angels’ all-time stolen base list. . . . Shortstop Dick Schofield, inserted into the game for defensive reasons in the eighth inning, made Mauch look good right away, making a fine running catch with his back to the plate on Tony Fernandez’s looper to center.