Twins Rip Into Angel Pitching in 10-5 Romp

A year ago Sunday, the roof caved in on the Angels and the Minnesota Twins. It was the night a violent rainstorm played havoc with the Metrodome’s inflatable fiberglass roof--rendering it deflated and torn and in a general state of disrepair.

To mark the first anniversary, the Twins left the Angel pitching staff in the same condition Sunday afternoon.

Urbano Lugo, Mike Cook and DeWayne Buice comprised a three-man detonation crew during the Angels’ 10-5 loss to the Twins. Together, they served up four home runs, three doubles and laid waste to an offensive effort that knocked the Twins’ Bert Blyleven out of the game in the sixth inning.

Wally Joyner, the rookie made famous on Roof Night when he capped a six-run, ninth-inning rally with a game-winning home run, was on hand to tear things up again. On this day, Joyner hit two home runs off Blyleven, giving him five homers in his last six games.

One week ago, Joyner was batting .192 and moping with no home runs and five runs batted in. Seven days pass and guess what? Joyner suddenly has 5 home runs and 18 RBIs--actually ahead of his pace (5 home runs, 12 RBIs) at the same stage last year.

Besides that, Brian Downing delivered his eighth home run to move into a tie for the American League lead with Milwaukee’s Rob Deer. That gave the Angels five runs in five innings against Blyleven, a man who should be listed alongside Gene Autry as co-owner of the Angels. Before Sunday, Blyleven was 27-13 in his career against California, 3-0 in 1986.

And what did that get the Angels?

Nothing but a second straight loss and a split of a four-game series with Minnesota. The Angels scored 27 runs, nearly seven a game, and left Minneapolis the same way they arrived--one game behind the Twins in the American League West standings.

“To tell you the truth, we were very fortunate to win two games,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “We didn’t play as well as we know how. If I thought for a minute that that’s as well as we can play, I’d be more than a little bit concerned. But, I know better.”

Mauch then attached a disclaimer to that assessment.

“Not one of our offensive players is down in the mouth,” he said. “But we have a few pitchers that are powder-burned.”

For Angel pitching, this was the weekend that wasn’t. Saturday night, Willie Fraser, Gary Lucas, Chuck Finley and Buice combined to surrender 8 runs on 4 home runs and 13 hits. Sunday, Lugo is battered for 5 runs in 5 innings, Cook gives up 3 in 1 innings and Buice mops up by allowing 2 runs before recording the last 5 outs.

After four appearances, the Angels are still waiting for Lugo to display the ability that earned him the No. 5 starting assignment during spring training. He entered Sunday’s game with an 0-0 record and a 7.30 earned-run average. By the grace of the Angel hitters, he is still 0-0, but that ERA is now 7.79.

For the first time, Lugo pitched into a sixth inning but failed to get another out before yielding to Cook. In 17 innings this season, Lugo has allowed 24 hits and 10 walks.

“He’s capable of pitching better, and I’d wish he’d get there,” Mauch said. “But, he pitched a little better than the score showed, boys.”

Mauch alluded to the first inning, when the Twins scored three runs after Angel second baseman Mark McLemore failed to pull in a sharp one-hopper off the bat of Kent Hrbek. Had McLemore made the play, the inning would have been over.

“And McLemore makes that play 99 times in a row,” Mauch said. “He makes it there and they get zero runs instead of three.”

Hrbek’s ball went through for an RBI single, tying the game, 1-1, after Joyner’s first home run gave Lugo a quick lead. Hrbek scored on a 429-foot home run by Gary Gaetti.

Lugo contained the Twins long enough for the Angels to even the score, 3-3, on Joyner’s second home run and Darrell Miller’s sacrifice fly in the fourth. But in the bottom of the inning, Lugo buckled again, serving up Kirby Puckett’s sixth home run.

One more time in the sixth inning: The Angels take the lead (Downing homers) and Lugo lets the Twins tie it (Gaetti walks and Roy Smalley doubles).

At 5-5, Mauch decided to spare Lugo’s earned-run average and maybe keep the game in hand by bringing in Cook. Cook did his job for one inning, quickly retiring the side, but going for two was pressing it.

In the seventh, Cook (1-1) wound up a loser when he surrendered a home run to Steve Lombardozzi, a single to Puckett and a walk to Hrbek. Puckett and Hrbek both scored on Smalley’s double off Buice. Buice also allowed Greg Gagne’s third home run in two days in the eighth inning.

It was Buice’s second appearance in a major league uniform--both of them coming in the Homerdome. Nice way to get that career underway.

“The balls fly out of here,” Buice noticed. “And they were flying not only off me, but off everybody.”

Asked if he had ever experienced anything like the Metrodome, Buice smiled and said, “I’m coming out of the PCL (Pacific Coast League), where balls fly out everywhere. This is comparable to Edmonton or Albuquerque. But the ball does seem to take off here. The ball Smalley hit for a double, I didn’t think he hit it that well. But it just kept going and going and going.”

And after the Twins did the same to Lugo and Cook, Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann could be seen going, going, going back to the drawing board.

“The big leagues are the big leagues. You’ve got to pitch in every park,” Lachemann said. “Each of these pitchers has the ability. It’s my job to get it out of them.”

Getting out of the Metrodome is about all the Angels accomplished.

Angel Notes

Reporters broke the news to Wally Joyner that his 2 home runs and 3 RBIs put him on a pace ahead of his sensational 1986 start. What was that about no news being good news? “I didn’t know it, I wish I didn’t know it, but now that I know it, I’m gonna forget it,” Joyner said. “I’m just trying to put some good at-bats together.” Joyner hadn’t had many prior to the weekend, batting just .192 at the beginning of last week. “A week ago, I was behind my pace of the second half,” quipped Joyner, who hit just .257 with 2 home runs and 28 RBIs after last season’s All-Star break. Joyner has a 10-game hitting streak and, since last Sunday, has gone 12 for 25 (.480) with 5 home runs and 13 RBIs. Said Gene Mauch: “Wally Joyner is starting to play ball again.” . . . Joyner is one of the few Angels to have any kind of success against Bert Blyleven. After Sunday, Joyner is batting .474 (9 for 19) against the Twins’ No. 1 starter. “I don’t have an answer for it, except not being intimidated by him,” Joyner said. “He has a great curveball, but if he can’t get it over for a strike, he has to come in with a fastball. That’s how I approach Bert Blyleven.” Both of Joyner’s home runs against Blyleven came on fastballs. . . . Add Joyner: He was asked if the Metrodome ranked among his favorite parks to hit in. “It does now,” he said with a grin. “It’s the favorite park for a lot of players.