Athletics Add to the Angels’ Worries, 7-6 : Mauch’s Woes Now Include Witt’s Pride and McCaskill’s Arm

Never mind the 9-6 record. Never mind the four home runs and the late-inning uprising that nearly turned a seven-run deficit into victory Wednesday afternoon.

The Angel team that opens a four-game series today against the Minnesota Twins arrived in Minneapolis in tatters.

First, examine the Angel pitching staff, which is what doctors have been doing with increasing frequency lately.

Mike Witt, the team’s No. 1 starter, lasted only three innings in Wednesday’s 7-6 loss to the Oakland A’s at Anaheim Stadium. Witt (2-2) gave up all seven runs on six hits--including Stan Javier’s first major league home run and Mickey Tettleton’s first hit and run batted in of 1987.

Kirk McCaskill, the No. 2 starter, has bone chips in his right elbow, and surgery has been suggested, but for the time being, he’ll try to pitch with it.

“At some point, they’re going to have to go in there, but I just don’t know when that is,” McCaskill said. “The way things stand now, I’m going to pitch Saturday and see what happens.”

Donnie Moore, the No. 1 reliever, had his sore rib cage examined Wednesday morning as a follow-up to the cortisone injection he received Sunday.

“They didn’t see anything out of whack,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch reported. “He might be able to pitch tomorrow (Thursday).”

Chuck Finley, who came in to mop up for Witt, pitched six scoreless innings--after undergoing an examination for a bladder irritation Tuesday.

“The doctors say I might have got it from running or from taking anti-inflammatory drugs,” Finley said. “It’s nothing serious, but I was sore after the test.”

Then, there’s George Hendrick. He broke the middle finger on his right hand while pinch-hitting in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 8-5 Angel victory. He was placed on the 21-day disabled list and replaced on the active roster by Edmonton relief pitcher DeWayne Buice.

And then, there’s the little stuff--the numbness in John Candelaria’s right leg, the spasms in Butch Wynegar’s lower back, the stomach virus that has left Doug DeCinces pale and weak. Even bullpen coach Bob Clear is ailing. Bothered by a bad back, Clear will miss this trip in accordance with doctors’ orders.

Mauch, one of the few who isn’t limping or coughing or wincing, has contracted a different kind of condition.

It’s called concern.

“I’m always concerned,” Mauch said, slowly looking up from his office desk. “Things came up like this last year, and we handled it all right. We’ll see if we can do it again, if necessary.”

Mauch then rose to his feet, sighed and looked at a reporter.

“You guys keep coming in here with questions,” he said. “How about coming up with a (bleeping) answer?”

Maybe leaving home is the answer. No doubt, Anaheim Stadium has been a dangerous place to hang around lately, with bodies in both uniforms being battered and beaten. Wednesday, a crowd of 30,157 witnessed one of the scariest collisions ever seen in the Big A outfield.

Gary Pettis led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a drive into the gap in right-center field, drawing the attention of both center fielder Dwayne Murphy and right fielder Mike Davis. Sprinting hard and sliding, Davis reached out and got his glove on the ball when Murphy, also charging hard, crashed into him.

Murphy’s right knee slammed against the side of Davis’ head, sending both players sprawling and the ball rolling. Both players were still on their backs when Pettis crossed home plate with an inside-the-park home run.

Davis suffered a concussion on the play and had to be taken from the field on a stretcher. Murphy, who sustained a deep bruise to his right knee, had to be assisted to the dugout by a pair of teammates. X-rays on his knee were negative.

“That was scary,” Oakland Manager Tony LaRussa said. “The ball was in the gap, the sun was blinding. You know, those guys being as tough as nails, they wouldn’t let up on the ball.”

LaRussa said Murphy’s knee hit Davis in the head, and by the time the manager could arrive at the scene, Davis was conscious but definitely fuzzy on the details.

“He called me Billy,” LaRussa said. “I didn’t know if that meant Martin or Williams.”

Pettis’ home run was one of four delivered by the Angels after they fell behind, 7-0, in the third inning. Wally Joyner, after going homerless for 61 games, hit his second in as many days; Darrell Miller, starting in the outfield in place of Hendrick, put one over the center-field fence, and Brian Downing connected for a two-run shot in the seventh inning, pulling the Angels up to 7-6.

The Angels had a chance to tie in the eighth inning when pinch-hitter Mark Ryal led off with a double off A’s reliever Jay Howell. However, Miller and Joyner failed to score him--Miller tapping out meekly to third and Joyner lining to second baseman Mike Gallego, who caught Ryal off base for an inning-ending double play.

It was a blown opportunity, but the way Mauch looked at it, six runs should have been enough.

“You’d give a lot to know, before coming to the ballpark, that you’d have six runs and Mike Witt on the mound,” Mauch said.

But Witt, who gave up seven runs in four innings 10 days ago in Oakland, lasted just three innings in the rematch. He gave up two runs in the first--yielding an RBI single to Mark McGwire and walking Tettleton, who was hitless in his first 20 at-bats, with the bases loaded. He gave up five more in the third--three on Javier’s home run, another on Tettleton’s first hit of the season and the fifth on a throwing error by Wynegar.

Alfredo Griffin was attempting to steal third base when Wynegar threw the ball away, enabling Griffin to score what proved to be the decisive run.

“I don’t remember if Mike Witt has ever pitched a strong game against Oakland in the day time,” said Mauch, who claimed that Witt’s customary control deserted him. “He walks Mickey Tettleton with the bases loaded. Mike Witt doesn’t do things like that.”

Or give up opposite-field home runs to a .231-hitting rookie utilitman named Javier.

“The home run Javier hit would make a grown man cry,” Mauch said. “A three-run pop fly. Wally got one like it, but it doesn’t offset it as far as I’m concerned.

“A three-run home run like that makes you sick.”

And on the Angels these days, Mauch isn’t alone with that feeling.

Angel Notes

Kirk McCaskill admits he’s venturing into the unknown by attempting to make his scheduled start Saturday. “I don’t know what’s going to happen Saturday. (The elbow) could be pain-free,” he said. And if not? “In my mind, the pain is negligible. It hurts, but I can live with it. The thing I have to think about is whether I’m risking my career by going out there. Right now, I’ve been able to pitch through it pretty well. I need to see what happens Saturday, how I feel. I can’t speculate beyond that.” McCaskill said the arm hurt him in each of his three starts, including last week’s four-hit shutout in Seattle. “It felt like ground beef,” he said. “That’s where (going for) the shutout kept me in the game. That decision is up to Gene and Lach (pitching coach Marcel Lachemann), but I would never pull myself out of a game unless the pain was unbearable.” And McCaskill doesn’t believe skipping a start will solve the problem. “Time isn’t going to do it,” he said. “I had all winter, and it still seems to be the same.” . . . Gene Mauch on Chuck Finley’s six innings of two-hit relief: “Unbelievable, considering what he did with the doctors yesterday.” Finley’s bladder test was scheduled after red blood cells were found in a urine sample taken during a spring training physical examination. According to Finley, doctors told him the condition could be hereditary. “Or it might have developed over a period of time,” he said. “It’s nothing serious.” . . . Going Solo: Before Brian Downing delivered his two-run home run off Jay Howell in the seventh inning, the Angels had hit 18 home runs in 1987--and 15 had come with the bases empty. . . . Oakland’s Tony Phillips, inserted in left field after the outfield collision between Dwayne Murphy and Mike Davis, helped quiet a potential Angel rally in the ninth inning with a diving catch of a sinking line drive by Ruppert Jones. Said Phillips: “Even a blind squirrel will find a nut every now and again.”