Fraser Warms to His Task, Beats Royals

As he warmed up in the bullpen in the 90-degree heat and oppressive humidity Saturday night at Royals Stadium, Angel rookie Willie Fraser was in a quandary.

His shirt was soaked in sweat and, more importantly, he couldn’t get his forkball over the plate.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “I was struggling and I was sweating really bad.”

He thought about changing his shirt but decided against it.

“I just glided through,” he said.

Good choice of words.

Fraser, gaining command of his pitches as he took the mound, threw a four-hitter to beat the Royals, 4-0, and earn his first major league shutout in only his 10th major league start.

The last time he threw a shutout, he was pitching for the Edmonton Trappers last August against the Albuquerque Dukes.

A crowd of 39,650 watched the 23-year-old right-hander shut down a considerably more formidable lineup to improve his record to 3-4.

“I went out to the mound and everything seemed to come to me,” Fraser said. “I felt like I had some pop in my fastball and all my pitches were working for me.”

His roommate, Chuck Finley, told him before the game that he would do well.

Afterward, he told him: “I think you went over your head on this one.”

Said Fraser: “I threw a lot of strikes tonight. I would get inside and then I’d work back away. I had a lot of confidence in all my pitches.”

And, for a change, the Angels gave him some offensive support.

Fraser entered the game with a 3.36 earned-run average, best on the Angel staff and ninth-best in the American League, but he hadn’t won since May 9.

During that span of five starts, he received no decision in a 3-2 Angel loss to Baltimore; lost, 3-0, to New York’s Joe Niekro; lost, 3-2, to New York’s Rick Rhoden; and lost again last Sunday, 4-0, to Chicago’s Bill Long.

It was a frustrating stretch, but Fraser said: “You’ve got to let those games go. You’ve just got to deal with the game at hand.

“It’s tough and it makes you sit back and think a little bit. But as long as I was pitching well and I wasn’t giving up many runs. . . . I thought we’d come out of our slump.”

Or Fraser would throw a shutout.

Against Royal starter Mark Gubicza (3-8), the American League’s worst hitting team (batting average: .242) hit into double plays three times in the first four innings. On the third, though, the Angels scored their second run.

Brian Downing, fighting a 14-for-83 slump, grounded a double just inside the first-base bag in the fourth, scoring Wally Joyner to pick up his first run batted in since May 31.

“Downing finally found some turf instead of some leather,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said.

Downing moved to third on a bunt single by Jack Howell, then scored when Doug DeCinces, who is 17 for 112 in his last 33 games, grounded into a double play.

Mark McLemore seemed to have grounded into still another double play with one out in the fifth, but the ball stuck in the glove of Royal second baseman Frank White, who was forced to throw out McLemore, allowing Bob Boone to advance to second.

Devon White followed with a run-scoring double and scored on a single by Joyner, giving Fraser a 4-0 lead.

He took good care of it, making only 103 pitches, striking out five, walking two and surviving a scare in the ninth when designated hitter George Brett doubled high off the wall in center field.

When the ball stayed in play, Fraser said: “I was really relieved.”

He left Brett at second, striking out Thad Bosley and retiring Frank White on a grounder to wrap up the shutout, which lowered his ERA to 2.96.

“He threw harder than I thought he would,” Brett said. “He had us swinging at high fastballs, and we kind of got ourselves out.

“It looks so sweet and looks so big coming in, but you can’t get around on it.”

It hadn’t looked so sweet a few hours earlier, when Fraser struggled to find his stuff in the bullpen.

“Maybe it was the adrenaline factor,” said Fraser, trying to explain why everything clicked when he got to the mound. “I just felt good out there. I got in a good groove and I felt I could keep it the whole game.”

Angel Notes

The Angels have banned alcohol from the clubhouse and airline flights and bus trips. . . . The Royals have been shut out 9 times in 58 games, but only twice with George Brett in the lineup. In four of Mark Gubicza’s eight losses, the Royals have been shut out. . . . Angel Manager Gene Mauch, on the importance of keeping within striking distance of the division-leading Minnesota Twins, whose lead over the Angels is six games: “You don’t want to be so far back that you can’t make an impact (on the standings) in any given series.” . . . Bret Saberhagen sat in front of his locker a couple of hours before the game, opening a stack of mail. His 11-1 start, he said, has brought only a slight increase in fan correspondence. “No hate mail, though,” he said. Apparently, the Angels haven’t taken to putting their thoughts on paper. Saberhagen, 14-17 in his career against the rest of the AL West, is 6-1 with a 1.26 earned-run average against the Angels. Why? “I don’t know,” he said, “and hopefully they won’t find out.” The Angels will miss Saberhagen’s turn in the rotation when they meet the Royals in a four-game series next weekend at Anaheim Stadium. . . . Saberhagen seemed amused by Mauch’s contention that Mike Witt had outpitched him in Friday night’s 1-0 Royal victory. “It’s pretty tough to judge who did better in a game like that, isn’t it?” he said. Saberhagen and Witt both pitched three-hitters.

Angel center fielder Gary Pettis did not start because of an inflamed right Achilles’ tendon and a sprained joint in the middle finger on his right hand. He injured the Achilles’ tendon on the artificial turf at Royals Stadium. The finger injury has bothered him since spring training. He entered the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning. . . . Kirk McCaskill made 101 pitches in a 35-minute workout Saturday at Anaheim Stadium.