Mauch Smiling as Angels Win Laugher : Witt Picks Up His 17th Victory in a 9-2 Romp Over the Yankees

It was easy to tell who came out on the long end of a 9-2 score Saturday evening at Anaheim Stadium.

--New York Yankee starter Joe Niekro had a knuckleball that sometimes forgot to knuckle and was showering by the end of the third inning.

--Angel starter Mike Witt was alive and well after nine pleasant innings. He finished with eight strikeouts and his 17th victory of the season.

--Yankee outfielder Dan Pasqua committed two errors, ran ribs-first into the left-field wall, and later watched Angel Brian Downing’s line drive hit the top of a fence and skip over for a home run.

--Angel third baseman Doug DeCinces hit another homer . . . Reggie Jackson collected his 2,500 career hit . . . Angel Manager Gene Mauch was smiling afterward, even though the Texas Rangers won, keeping the Angels’ lead in American League West at 6 1/2 games.

The Angels? How’d you guess?

This was a game where high drama took the evening off. By the end of the fourth, the Angels had a 6-0 lead. Witt has survived on much less.

The Angels added a run in the fifth, another in the seventh and for fun’s sake, another in eighth. The victory gives the Angels 17 wins in their last 21 home games.

An audience of 51,182, the fourth-largest Anaheim Stadium crowd of the season, was treated to all sorts of entertainment. They saw Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield accidentally toss a bat into the stands. They saw Yankee outfielder Claudell Washington limp off the field in the first inning, the victim of a foul ball off his foot. And Yankee catcher Joel Skinner threw one ball into center and had another slip from his glove on a play at the plate.

The Angels did little wrong.

They took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on DeCinces’ homer, which gives him 22 for the season and ties him with Wally Joyner for the team lead. It was a painful sight: not for DeCinces--he simply trotted around the bases--but for Pasqua, who flipped over the padded left-field fence and into the laps of some surprised fans.

Three more runs arrived the next inning when Gary Pettis and Brian Downing scored on a bases-loaded single by DeCinces. Actually, Downing’s run was made possible when Skinner lost control of the ball during a slide at home. Jackson, who walked to load the bases, later scored on an run-scoring single by George Hendrick.

The fourth inning included yet another oddity, Downing’s two-run homer that landed atop a wire bullpen fence in left and bounced over. Pasqua chose to watch rather than leap.

Pasqua charged a sinking line drive by Hendrick in the fifth only to see it skip under his glove and roll to the wall. By the time the ball was retrieved, Hendrick was standing on third. Bobby Grich singled home Hendrick a few moments later, making it 7-0.

Hendrick added his 12th homer of the season in the seventh.

Witt did his part to make the evening even more miserable for the Yankees. He struck out three in the first inning, another in the second and had allowed only three hits entering the eighth inning (one double and two singles).

Mike Easler Witt’s Angel shutout bid when he homered to leadoff the eighth. The Yankees scored another run in the ninth when Don Mattingly doubled with two out and Pasqua singled him home. Winfield struck out to give Witt his 13th complete game of the season, the most by Angel starter since Nolan Ryan had 17 in 1978.

Angel Notes

Nine Angel players are in the final year of their contracts (Doug DeCinces, Reggie Jackson, Bob Boone, Rick Burleson, Doug Corbett, Brian Downing, Bobby Grich, Ruppert Jones and Don Sutton). Manager Gene Mauch said, “They’ll be back, especially if we win. Why clean out a combination of people who help you win? I haven’t seen that too many times.” Added Mauch: “There are guys on our club who have less to worry about than speculation makes it appear. My goodness, we’re winning with them; that’s the criteria, isn’t it?” . . . General Manager Mike Port talked about the contract situation in the Sept. 8 issue of The Sporting News. “I’ve been heartened by the way the fellows went about their job,” he said. “After all that was written, I was surprised to see that the concern (about the future) doesn’t even exist. There is a time for everything. Now it’s a time to produce on the field and have everyone mind the business at hand. It borders on ridiculous to say there are distractions.” DeCinces took exception to Port’s comments. “The guys are thinking about it, no matter what anybody says,” he said. “But as I’ve said before, it’s just something you have to overcome.” . . . Still no definite word on pitcher John Candelaria’s return, scheduled for Wednesday against the Cleveland Indians. If Candelaria’s tender left elbow prevents him from starting, Ray Chadwick, 0-4 with a 7.40 earned-run average in five starts, has been listed as the probable replacement. But Urbano Lugo or Bill Fraser might also receive consideration . . . Yankee outfielder Claudell Washington left the game in the first inning after fouling a ball of his left foot. Results of X-rays were negative . . . Entering Saturday evening’s game, if the Angels went .500 for the rest of the season, the Texas Rangers would have to win 21 of 27 remaining games to capture the division title.