Angels Defeat Dodgers the Free Way, 1-0 : Bases-Full Walk Wins Rain-Delayed Game; Fraser Wins Spot on Team

It seemed for a time that Willie Fraser’s appearance in the opening game of the Freeway Series Friday night would be his last at Anaheim Stadium for at least several weeks.

The Angel right-hander appeared to be on his way to Edmonton and Triple-A after pitching almost too well for his own good this spring.

“He’s too good of a prospect to be a nobody on this team,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said in Palm Springs two weeks ago. “I would rather he was a somebody somewhere else.”

As it turned out, Fraser was a somebody against the Dodgers, pitching four scoreless innings to pick up the victory.

The Angels won, 1-0, before a crowd of 42,273, scoring the only run in the seventh inning when Jack Howell drew a walk from Dodger reliever Matt Young with the bases loaded, sending home Brian Downing.

Fraser faced only one batter over the minimum, striking out 5 and walking 1. He did not allow any hits.

But before Fraser took over for starter Urbano Lugo in an exhibition game that was delayed twice by rain--for 16 minutes at the start and for 89 minutes after 3 1/2 innings--Mauch said that Fraser would be with the Angels when they open the season Tuesday at Anaheim against the Seattle Mariners.

“Unless something happens to cloud my mind, he’ll be on the team,” Mauch said.

In 25 innings before Friday, Fraser gave up only 22 hits while striking out 12, walking 4 and compiling an earned-run average of 2.52.

Mauch’s comments seem to indicate that Fraser, 22, may still be in the running to be the Angels’ fifth starter, although Lugo did nothing to hurt his own chances.

Lugo worked the first 4 innings, giving up 2 hits while striking out 2 and walking 1.

One of the hits was a line-drive single to left by Mike Ramsey, the non-roster player who hit .364 in Florida and is threatening to make the jump from Double-A to replace Ken Landreaux as the Dodgers’ starting center fielder.

Donnie Moore completed the shutout by setting the Dodgers down 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Fernando Valenzuela, scheduled to pitch the Dodgers’ second game of the regular season Tuesday night at Houston, worked two innings against the Angels.

And work he did, making 52 pitches while walking 3 and giving up 1 infield hit to Devon White, this spring’s Angel phenom.

White’s 48th hit of the spring was the kind the Angels expect this season from the speedy Jamaican.

After fouling off several pitches, Whit pounded one into the thick infield grass that stopped about 20 feet from home plate and about two feet inside the third-base line. Valenzuela had no play.

Freeway Series Notes John Candelaria, who was scratched as the Angel starter Friday night because of the numbness in his right calf, threw for about 30 minutes Friday afternoon. Manager Gene Mauch said that he still expects Candelaria to pitch Wednesday night against Seattle. “No doubt in my mind,” Mauch said. “I’m totally confident that he’ll pitch and pitch well Wednesday night. Five days can be a long time in the healing process.” . . . Asked why Candelaria didn’t pitch Friday night, Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann said: “There’s still some weakness in the foot and he’d have to cover bases and stuff like that. We were afraid of him turning over the foot and being out two or three months.”

Angel reliever Gary Lucas, whose left shoulder had been bothering him, threw for about 12 minutes before the game. Lachemann said Lucas probably will pitch in Sunday’s exhibition game at Dodger Stadium. “I felt very good,” said Lucas, whose shoulder was injected with cortisone Monday. “I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn’t restricted. I tried to cut loose.” . . . Playing catch with a teammate before the game, Angel catcher Jerry Narron hit Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda in the back with a throw. “Thirty-four (Narron’s number),” said Lasorda, waving a hand in front of his face, “you’re going to get these all night--sliders.” . . . Earlier, as Lasorda walked in front of the Angel dugout toward a television crew waiting to interview him, Mauch called out to him, asking how he was doing. “Pretty good,” Lasorda said. “Great.” Said a smiling Mauch, almost under his breath: “What else is new?” . . . Mauch said he first faced Lasorda when both were playing in the minors in 1951. “All he had,” Mauch said, “was a slow curve, a knockdown pitch and a willingness to fight.”

Mauch said that Steve Carlton, who signed Friday with the Cleveland Indians, called him Monday and asked if the Angels were interested. “I told him, ‘I’ve got five guys (starters) I don’t want to mess with,’ ” Mauch said. “ ‘If you think your arm is resilient enough to pitch two or three times a week, we’ll talk.’ He said, ‘Well, I’ll think about that.’ I never heard from him again.” . . . Butch Wynegar arrived at Anaheim Stadium Friday to find that his name had been spelled with two E’s instead of an A on the back of his uniform. “That shows how much I rate,” said the Angel catcher, acquired in a trade with the New York Yankees last December. Actually, he must rate higher than he thinks. By the time the game started, his name had been spelled correctly.

Doctor Michael Wellman made blood tests on seven Dodger players before the game to determine if they had ever had chicken pox. Len Matuszek’s 4-year-old son, Kyle, broke out with the disease on the Dodgers’ flight home from Florida Wednesday night. . . . Dodger first baseman Franklin Stubbs was a late scratch from Friday night’s game because of the flu and was sent home. . . . Bob Welch and Alejandro Pena, who has allowed only one earned run in 18 innings this spring, are expected to pitch in tonight’s game at Anaheim Stadium against the Angels’ Don Sutton.