Seattle Roughs Up Sutton and Angels’ Bullpen, 7-2

Seattle in the springtime has never done much for Don Sutton. He remembers the two April outings he made against the Mariners last year, poundings that left him a quick 0-2 with an earned-run average approaching his jersey number.

“The first game, I was hit hard,” Sutton recalls. “The second game, I was hammered.”

The second game, Sutton lasted just two outs and called it the worst performance of his 20-year career. He gave up eight runs--four on a grand slam by a rookie second baseman named Danny Tartabull.

Tartabull now plays right field for Kansas City, so Sutton was hoping to make a fresh start against Seattle Thursday night at Anaheim Stadium.

How’s this for a fresh start? Mariners 7, Angels 2. Losing pitcher: Sutton.

And the very trade that sent Tartabull out of Seattle helped keep Sutton in a familiar situation. Pitchers Scott Bankhead and Steve Shields, part of the package the Mariners received in that deal, combined to outpitch Sutton and beat the Angels for the first time in 1987.

Bankhead, who was 8-9 with a 4.61 ERA at Kansas City in 1986, restricted the Angels to 5 hits and 1 run through 6 innings. Shields, who spent most of last season in Triple-A, limited the Angels to a run the rest of the way to earn the first save of his big-league career.

And Sutton? He lasted 93 pitches, which took him into the seventh inning, and gave up two Mariner home runs. So what else is new? Well, at least the name was. Rookie catcher Dave Valle delivered both of them--a solo home run in the third inning and a two-run homer in the seventh.

Valle’s second shot came on Sutton’s final pitch of the evening. The 42-year-old pitcher left after 6 innings, trailing, 3-0, and having allowed 3 earned runs and 5 hits.

Angel Manager Gene Mauch turned the game over to the Angel bullpen, which turned the game into a rout.

Mike Cook walked Mike Kingery and Phil Bradley in the eighth. Gary Lucas allowed a single to Mickey Brantley that scored Kingery, then gave up a double to Alvin Davis that scored Bradley and Brantley. Chuck Finley came on to end the eighth, only to surrender a double to John Moses and an RBI single to Bradley in the ninth.

By the middle of the ninth, the Mariners led, 7-1--the same score the Angels rolled up in victories over Seattle Tuesday and Wednesday night.

However, the hits stopped coming for the Angels against Bankhead and Shields. Aside from a double by Mark McLemore, Bankhead held the Angels hitless through five innings. He allowed a single in the sixth and three in the seventh, paving the way for Shields’ entrance.

Doug DeCinces led off the seventh with a single and moved to third on a pinch single by Mark Ryal. DeCinces scored on a sacrifice fly by Dick Schofield. Gary Pettis followed with a single to right, and Seattle Manager Dick Williams changed pitchers.

Shields struck out McLemore to close the inning, then pitched a scoreless eighth. He yielded a leadoff home run to Jack Howell in the bottom of the ninth before retiring Butch Wynegar, Schofield and Pettis to record the save.

Before the homer, Howell, the Angels’ new left fielder, had something less than a field day. In the third inning, he failed to cut off a ball off Rey Quinones’ bat, allowing it to skip past him for a double. And in the eighth, Howell turned the wrong way while chasing a drive by Bradley--a ball that bounced up, caroming off the wall for a two-run double.

But Mariner pitching was what stopped the Angels Thursday, and Williams, after watching his staff yield 21 hits during the first two games, was glad to see some, at last.

“Good pitching makes for good baseball,” Williams said. “Bankhead was super--very, very good.”

Good enough, maybe, to silence temporarily the heavy criticism the Mariners received for trading Tartabull. In exchange for a rookie who hit 25 home runs and drove in 96 runs in 1986, Seattle got three virtual unknowns--Bankhead, Shields and Kingery.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing about Tartabull,” Williams said. “That’s all we’ve been hearing about. Tonight, we had a Kingery and a Shields.”

And a Bankhead.

“If Bankhead and Shields are that good,” Mauch said, “it’s going to make that deal look pretty good.”

Angel Notes Yes, the Angels have left the door open for free-agent catcher Bob Boone. They opened the door to the clubhouse for Boone before Thursday’s game. He spent time talking with pitching coach Marcel Lachemann and former (and future?) teammates. “He was just visiting with the guys,” pitcher Gary Lucas said. Boone also visited the clubhouse Wednesday and watched part of the game in the team’s videotape room. Although Boone and the Angels are forbidden to discuss a new contract until May 1, such appearances are apparently within the rules. “Bob sought the club’s permission and received it,” Angel publicist Tim Mead said. Added General Manager Mike Port: “I have no objection. Bob and I are friends and we can talk about any and all topics--except an employment relationship.” When spotted by reporters, Boone said with a sheepish grin: “I’m not talking. I was supposed to be hiding from you guys.” Just then, pitcher Don Sutton grabbed Boone by the arm and whisked him into the trainer’s room, which is off-limits to reporters. “He’s not supposed to be in here,” Doug DeCinces said. “When we were free agents (last winter), we weren’t allowed in here.” If DeCinces wasn’t joking, Port denied that there is, or was, any clubhouse ban on unsigned free agents. “Quite contrarily, we welcomed them to use our facilities during the off-season,” he said, provided that the player first sign an insurance waiver. “That was no different than what (past free agents) Ken Forsch and Vern Ruhle did.” Did that mean Boone could begin workouts at Anaheim Stadium? Port said he isn’t sure. “I think the (players’) union’s position would be, ‘Fine, let the player work out,’ ” he said. “But we’re trying to field a baseball club, not run a workout haven. Suppose a free agent works out at your stadium, gets in shape, and then before the end of April, another player turns an ankle and another team comes calling. The player tells you, ‘Thanks a lot--and see you later.’ ” Nonetheless, the possibility interested Port and he said he would make some phone calls today to clarify the situation. . . . The home runs hit by Brian Downing and DeCinces in Wednesday night’s game moved both players up a notch on the Angels’ all-time home run list. Downing has hit 141 homers, tying him for second place with Don Baylor. DeCinces, with 115, is tied for fifth with Jim Fregosi. . . . Devon White stole his first two bases of the season, making him 11 for 11 as an Angel. White was 3 for 3 in 1985 and 6 for 6 in 1986. . . . When Seattle’s Phil Bradley stole second in the sixth inning, it moved him into second place on the Mariners’ all-time list with 68. Sharing that distinction with Bradley is current Angel outfielder Ruppert Jones.